Post #1: What were your reactions to the Holocaust true story you read today?
Tatyana Noori-
My reactions to the Holocaust true story was disgust mixed with sadness. I felt very horrible reading Solomon Radasky's story. When he mentioned seeing the kids being thrown into the crematorium alive all I could think was how could anybody be so heartless and cruel towards children. I felt horrible that he had o witness so many horrible events and had to live through it. The only part that made me smile is when he was talking about his wife and how she was so shy and wouldn't look at him, i thought that was very cute. I was happy that he survived but i can't stop thinking about how his life was after everything he's been through. I can only imagine how living through an event like that would traumatize a person.
Jessica Toro In my group, we read about a survivor of the holocaust, Solomom Radasky. He was born in Warsaw, Poland, on May 17, 1910. During the war he was in the Warsaw ghetto and concentration camp. While he was in the concentration he went through a lot and suffers a lot because he losses a lot of family members when the Jews are in the concentration camp. The holocaust was very hard and what he had to go thru was very upsetting. When he says, “"Who wants to go up first on the bench? You had to go stand on the bench and put the rope around your neck. I was in the first three to go up on the bench. I climbed up and put the rope around my neck. He started beating us. He beat me so much the blood was running down my head.” When I read this I was in shock he was about to lose his life because someone was doing something they weren’t suppose to do but the person that did it didn’t want to admit so that meant everyone had to suffer and hang themselves. I didn’t like how they called Jews dogs it bothers me there humans just like everybody else but they got treated different. It’s crazy how he survives two times and is able to remember every little detail that happen in the concentration camp. I found it good that in the groups they were in they would try to help one another. I’m glad he didn’t let himself down even if all of his family was murder he looked at that bright side and smiled.
Yennifer Posada The Holocaust has been always talked about. In class we did a Holocaust Investigation Activity. The person that interested me the most was Jeannine Burk's. She was one of the two females that survived the Holocaust. Jeannine's story touched me emotionally. Jeannine was born in Brussels, Belgium on September 15, 1939. Her life during the wartime was being a hidden child. Jeannine was a hidden child because she was sent to a home from age’s three to five. Jeannine's father was the one who left her in the home. Jeannine sates, "That was the last time I ever saw my father." When I read this I was moved by it because when you’re a three year old you want to be with your parents and you don't know what is going on. It is sad how Jeannine never saw her father again. I can't imagine being without my father or my mom. Being Jewish affected her life a lot. She had to be separated from her family. Her childhood was taken away from her because in the house she was staying there were no toys for her. She only was allowed to go to the backyard once in a while but never in front because the neighbors might see that she was staying there. Jeannine says, "I was never mistreated. Ever! But I was never loved." Even though she was safe, it meant that she didn't have a family or love from her loved ones especially her parents. This bothered me because thinking of a child not getting love is depressing . depressing. Even though she suffered at the she was able to reunite with her family. In 1944, her mother went to get her when we she was five years old at the house she was hiding in. I was so relieved that she was with her mother, sister and brother united again. Jeannine then was had been able to get adopted because her mother died and then she came to the United States. When she was 10 years old she had her first doll. After reading this, I am grateful that I have my parents and I live in a home where I don't have to hide myself. This makes me realize how lucky I am. I think if the Holocaust wasn't considered a genocide people would think that it wasn't as bad as they thought. This genocide was harsh and innocent people died because of Hitler (the totalitarian dictator of Germany). Hitler was anti- Semitism anti-Semitism meaning that he hated the Jewish people. This made billions of Jewish people die including Jeannine's father. I am relieved that the Nuremberg Trials held everyone involved in the Holocaust responsible because they believed those people should be punished because of how they treated Jewish people, Slavs, Gypsies, homosexuals, disabled and political dissidents. Genocide what destroys people and Nicola Reindorp said, “The international community must never again allow genocide or mass murder to go unchecked. This is a moral issue of huge importance and will establish a new standard that could help save millions of lives." If everyone would follow this I think there would be no more genocide.
Rwan Elsanhoury: My group and I read the Survivor Story of Solomon Radasky. He is a Polish man married with two children. He was in the Warsaw Ghetto during the war which happens to be one of the most crowded ghettos during World War II. He talks about his whole family being killed in the concentration camps. One thing that really grabbed my attention was how he described how he saw the children being thrown into the crematorium. The way he described it was very clear I could just imagine it in my head. Another thing he said that grabbed my attention was he that he stated "I didn't know if I was at home or at a crematory lot." His entire survivor story took place in his hometown. So at his own "home" he and others were being tortured. I almost cried at the part when he said that the American soldiers came and told him that they were free and he couldn't believe it. His survivor story made me really upset and shocked. I couldn't believe the Nazi's were so brainwashed that they would do such crimes against humanity.
Kristen Pou: My group read about Solomon Radasky. He was born in Warsaw, Poland and spent his life during the war in the Warsaw Ghetto and concentration camps. The Warsaw ghetto was probably one of the most crowded ghettoes; Poland had a pretty large Jewish population. I don’t think I could picture the sights seen at the Warsaw ghetto or any concentration camp for that matter. The line in his survivor story, “...they hung you for any little thing” reminded me how easy it was to get killed for them. I wondered how they adjusted to being on their toes or scared all the time. It made me sort of sick that Jews were forced to cover up the murders of their own kind. The Nazi officers made them cover the ashes of the cremated or bury the dead in mass graves. If something like this happened here in the States, stopping it would be the top priority probably even in the midst of war. It kind of reminds me that genocides could so easily be hidden and “forgotten” It’s just a little hard to think that media pushes things that make them money up in our faces when conflict like genocide is being censored and hidden.
Michelle Bravo:
My group read about Soloman Radasky, his survivor story was both compelling and moving. Soloman had many near death experiences but luckily he was always saved at last minute. Soloman was seperated from his family from the start of the Holocaust, after that he never saw them again until he heard that his sister was in a concentration camp while he was making fur coats for the Germans. He risked his money and life to go to the concentration camp willingly in search for his sister but never found her. He was shot in the ankle and got it removed with no anesthesia, and a knife, the next day he was supposed tocontinue wit normally and walk about and avoid limping because if a Nazi Soldier saw that he was limping they would kill him. He was mistreated, tatood, tortured, shot, moved from a variety of concentration camps and was verbally abusHis ear near death experiences were when he was about to get hung for another Jew addicted to smoking lit a paper and smoked it, the Nazisoldier noticed and demanded to know who was smoking. No one wastalking so he rallied up 10 random Jews for execution but was interrupted by another soldier who needed to move Soloman to another camp and needed him alive. His other near death experience was when he was making fur coats for the Germans a Soldier was about to shoot him but a German told him not to because he was a good worker. I found it appalling how badly these people were treated and for no reason too. Genocide is a horrid thing to go through and Jews went thought it more than once. I didn't think the situation was as bad as Soloman had described in his story and he had to live through that. When he returnedmto Warsaw after everything blewmovernit was a ghost town. No one was around and almost all buildings had been turned to rubble.
Nadia Espinoza:
My group read the story of Soloman Radasky . Many believe that the holocaust was a sad event in history which it was. But we would never get to feel or experience what survivors experienced. Soloman says that first he arrived at the ghetto he had found out that his mother and sister have both been killed , out of his whole family he was the only one that survived. What caught my attention was when he was shot on his ankle he could have been amputated but he was not, a doctor that was at the same camp that he was in helped him get rid of the bullet the doctor had no anesthesia and he told soloman to cope with the pain. When ever he was around a Nazi he had to avoid limping or else he would get out of the line and the Nazi would shoot him. He was also close to dying when a solider spotted that one of them had been smoking, the solider asked who it came from but no one answer so the solider decided to take 10 "dogs" and hang them until one of them spoke. Soloman was one of the 10 that had been called on. This and all the other events that Soloman went threw were sad and horrifying but reading his story makes ones emotions pour out but when one hears the person telling the story one then gets a sense of what happened and what emotions the person remembers when they revisit that moment. Hitler only did this because he believed that the Germans were the Aryan race. After that many jews, homosexuals, and gypsies were put to death. The Nuremberg trials sentenced formal Nazi soldiers to death for committing these crimes. As soon as all of this was over Soloman returned to his home town and said that warsaw was not the way that it used to be, everything was destroyed and many people were gone from their homes.
Saima Rehnuma:
The Holocaust like many believe, was an extrememely sad event. It was always known as the event that reigned over years of killing Jews, homesexuals, and those beside the Aryan race.The Nuremberg Laws became the chain reaction to the genocide of many deaths of Jews. It may seem that its over, but the stories of those that survived are yet to be known. My group and I read about Eva Galler, who was a survivor of such a tragic event. She was born in Poland on January 1, 1924. Like most of the families that were in the Holocaust, Eva and her family were a strong Jewish family. From reading her story, we learned that many like her had to fight and take chances to obtain their freedom and escape their death. She was part of the few that escaped the death train without being shot. Like all parents that want the best for their child, Eva's father sent her and her siblings saying "You the oldest three...Maybe somebody will survive, but we will stay here..." It was a action of love and affection that shook me and made me realize the sacrifices many familes had to do. Another part that affected me and stood out to me a lot was when Eva's brother Berele, was searching for crumbs of bread, when Eva brought bread home. It showed the struggles and torture the families locked in ghettos went through. Young kids like Berele, faced trouble and starvation, and led them to search for crumbs like Berele. Once reading this it reminded me of Anne Frank's diary that I read, that stated all her trouble and mischief she went throught to get food, although she was in hiding. The event of the Holocaust made me connect to the religious hate crimes that occurr between and against each religion even today. With this reading in mind, the genocide of many Jews reminded me of this quote by Jon Corzine that states " 'Never again' is the rallying cry for all who believe that mankind must speak out against genocide", and I believe it should be advocated and endorsed!
Ameera Khan :D
My group and I read about jeanine Burke's survivor story. We all thought it was very sad but at the same time we were all happy she escaped with her family. She was a hidden child that hid in this woman's house from ages 3-5. She was Belgium, which was not supposed to be involved in any kind of war. But Hitler didn't care what so ever and violated the Treaty of Versailles anyway. So Jeanine and her family had no option but to run away But they all lived in different places. In the end the good part was that they all united. They waited for her father to come but then in the end she realized that her father had died because the Germans had exterminated him with the acid gas in Aushwitz. Years later her mother had passed away from breast cancer and couldn't live with her siblings because she thought they didn't want her, since they were all married. Jeanine's childhood was very rough, but after all this violence, things started to get a lot better. It wasn't the same as having her own family, but its still satisfactory. She was adopted at the age of 10. This was when she came to the United States of America. During that age she even met the Labor Leader who has sponsored her and other holocaust survivors. Later on she got married, at a very young age. Her first marriage wasn't so decent because she had a divorce with her first marriage. Later on she married again to Maurice, who already had 4 children of his own. From her first marriage she had 2. In general I was feeling very happy for her because she was very lucky to get out of the situation and find a better place for herself. We all felt bad about what happened between and her family. But coming to the United States was worth it. After all this is a land of opportunities and she got back on track with it. Today she's in place where she's blessed with all these gifts after the bad things she went through in life. After reading this, I just had a very strong supportive feeling towards her because i was just very happy for her about what happened in the ending. If only the Nazis weren't that bad, then there would never be a place for hard times in her life!
Stephanie Ramirez :D Me and my group read a story about a person called Solomon Radasky. During war time he lived in warasaw and in concentration camps. While i was reading his story i was actually shocked because evrything that i actually saw in movies really did happen to people. Solomon had a very hard life. He lost his whole family during the holocaust. Solomon was also a very lucky man because if it wasnt for the guard he would've been dead. He was like, not even miinutes but seconds away of being hunged. Solomon had got through a lot in order to be where he is now with his wife and his two kids.While i was reading his story i was actually shocked because evrything that i actually saw in movies really did happen to people.I also felt really bad for what hitler made all the jews go through. Also i felt really proud, because Solomon kept having faith and that faith brought him to good things. While Solomon was at the concentration camp the jews would be caring and give each other a hand, just like when Salomon had gotten shot in his leg,and he was going back to his room a jew came up to him and told him that he was a docter and that he couldnt do much but he'll try to help him as much as he can. Atleast everyone was helpful to each other.
Alisa Metovic:
Today in class, my group and I read the survival memoir of Solomon Radasky. He was born in Warsaw, Poland, the most catastrophically damaged area through out the whole Holocaust. His story was very sad, because his life during wartime was spent in the Warsaw ghetto and in the concentration camps. The part that seemed the most emotional to me was where he talks about his family, and how he was quickly separated from his parents, two brothers and three sisters. Radasky explained that prisoners in the barracks would try to help each other as much as possible. He said, "As I lay in my bed, an older man asked me how I was. He said, 'I can help you.' He had been a doctor in Paris. He took a little pocket knife and operated on me." This, somewhat made his situation better to me, because it seemed as though when even away from your family, you can find people to treat you like you all really are. With in his descriptionof his experience through out the Holocaust Genocide, Radasky reminded me of the Bosnian Genocide and what aconnection the two had. The Bosnian Genocide (early '90's) was of Serbs attacking against Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), both being religious hate crimes. I was glad to read of Radasky's story because I know that as time goes on, fewer and fewer survivors will exist and that with the help of such websites Ipredictthat future generations will still get to properly learn about the Holocaust and the tales it's survivors tell.
Mayar Mansy Today, me and my group read Jeannine Burk's holocaust story. she's luckily one of the few survivors of the holocaust. Jeannine Burk was born in Brussels, Belgium on September 15, 1939. The story was sad but sort of nice at times. It was sad because her father got exterminated in Auschwitz and she was never allowed to have a father. Also, her mother later died because of breast cancer. But, the good thing is that her other members of the family survived as well. She went to America and got adopted. she was treated very nice, she got married and had kids later on ( =
Berevan TuranToday I read Jeannine Burk's holocaust story. My reaction was good and bad at the same time. The reason why my reaction was good is because most of her family survived. Also because it didn't take them a long time to find each other, they found each other right away. Another good reason is that she got a good job and was happily married.
Tatyana Noori-My reactions to the Holocaust true story was disgust mixed with sadness. I felt very horrible reading Solomon Radasky's story. When he mentioned seeing the kids being thrown into the crematorium alive all I could think was how can anybody be so heartless and cruel towards children. (NOT DONE) Emily Xhaferi:)Today my group and I read Solomon Radasky's story. My reaction to that story was very horrible. In some parts of his story he explains how he almost died...TWICE. It was very sad. What i found amazing was how he remembered like every little thing that he went through and that happened. Heremembered how big the train was and how he couldnt breathe on the train. He remembered how someone took his bread but he was too weak to run back after it. It really broke my heart ): What got to me the most was when he was explaining how he escaped once and he got caught. They lined him up with 10 other guys in front of a pit getting ready to shoot them. Soloman and a jewish doctor werent going to give up now, so they ran as fast as they could. He explains how it was running, he said he has never ran so fast before. He talks about how this random energy he had-just to run as far as he could. He couldn't feel his feet either, but he made it. Although his family were all murdered he looked for that one light of hope and for the first time, he stated he actually smiled. AWWWWWWWW
Mehak Mahmood:Me and my group decided to read Eva Galler's Survivor story. As we started reading the story we all had the same reaction,we were horrified and surprised but more towards shock of what the people had to go through to survive. Eva a Poland born escaped from the death train with her 2 other oldest siblings a brother and sister by the force of there parents thinking that they would escape but that didn't necessary happen. Other people were jumping off the small windows of the train so Eva and her siblings jumped off to but only Eva survived because the SS people were shooting from the roofs of the train and Eva luckliy didnt get shot. When I found out Eva's siblings were no more my reaction changed I was so surprised and so emotional at that point because I had pictured that scence in my brain and if I was Eva I dont know how I would have taken that news. When Eva was on the train her younger 3 year old brother was crying knowing that they wouldnt jump off with them .The younger child probably knew about what was going on but the parents took a risk and stayed with there other children. On the part that made me emotional the most was when Eva explains how she will never foget how her young brother was crying to come with her but she couldnt do anything about it and Eva could still hear her youngest brother screaming, "I want to live too." That touched me when I read it imaging a poor 3 year old who has done nothing is innocent and is soon being put to the test of death. I was really dissapointed and worried how people didnt care about other peoples feelings how there feelings ment nothing to them.Nothing that i write emphasizes how hurt i felt and how hurt my table felt while read the story and saying stuff like "Omg" and "I feel so sad for them." Eva and her family had to go through many obstacle and I feel really sad and dissapointed for that.
Samantha Fabrizi:
My group and I read about Eva Galler's holocaust story. My reaction towards it was horrible, I felt so bad for her. She explains everything she went through and it was so sad. I am happy that she survived when she had to jump from the train, but her brother and sister didn't make it. She had to go through a lot and it was really sad. She talked about how she lost one of her parents at a young age. Eva had a hard time dealing with her father because she had to force her dad to let her go to high school. I felt bad that when she found her brother and sister dead, she blamed it on the star she was wearing, and said to herself that she was never wearing it again. She talked about how a lot of gentile familes were afraid of being killed if they were to hide Jewish people. It's really sad to read about this because you think you have it bad, but then while you're reading you realize you have it really good. You don't have to jump out of a train window to save your life, knowing you might die because there were the SS people shooting on the roof... One thing that really got to me was when she mentioned that the Jews and non Jews did not mix very well, but only when it came to business. I also did not like it when I read that the gentile children didn't want anything to do with the Jewish people, it made me upset when i read that they called them names. Jewish people had a very hard tiime especially during Easter time. The gentiles would throw stones at the Jewish people because they all said that the Jewish people killed Christ. I feel really bad, she went through so much and it was at such a young age. She suffered a lot and it just wasnt fair. Even though somethings were good for her, majority of the time it was all bad, and my heart broke for her. I still can't imagine how she felt when she saw her brother and sister dead. I have no idea how I would feel if i were to see my brother and sisters dead..
Gisselle Flores: I felt sad because the Jews struggled a lot during the holocaust. We know they suffered but once you read a survivors story you know that it really happened to them and it makes it even more sad. My group and I read the surviving story of Solomon Radasky. It was shocking to know that he had 78 people in his family and that out of all of his family he was the only one who survived. Solomon had 3 sisters, 3 brothers and both of his parents. They all got killed. His mom and sister got shot because the Germans were collecting jewlery and she didnt have any so they just shot her. What's even more sad about all of this is that he didnt even know when they got killed; "When I returned to the ghetto i found out that my mother and older sister had been killed". The Jews had to kill there own people if not they would be ones who would have to die. What I have found dumb all this time is that the Germans use the Jews as workers and at the end they end up killing them -_- Whats also sad about his story is that on July 22, 1942 the deportation started and he never saw anyone from his family again. The good thing about his story is that he ends up married on November 11, 1946. He also ends up having two kids so he has a family once again. He had a very sad story to tell but has a new happy family.
POST #2 ARMENIA/ CAMBODIA (Choose 1 question!!)
1) How did the Cambodian and Armenian genocides compare and contrast? What were some of the similarities and differences you found interesting between them?
2) Based on the videos on 3generations and the article you read about the Cambodian genocide, what were your reactions to the struggles of the Cambodian citizens under the Khmer Rouge? What shocked you about how they were treated and what their life was like during this time? Gisselle Flores: Both of the Cambodian and Armenian genocides had many people killed which is one way they were similar. In both genocides there were labor camps setup. They were also similar because they both targeted a specific group of people. In the Cambodian genocide Khmer Rouge targeted the Cambodians and in the Armenian genocide the Ottoman Empire targeted the Armenians. Both the Ottoman Empire and Khmer Rouge wanted to control everything which is why they started there genocides. They also almost had the same reason why they killed who they killed. The Ottoman Empire was Muslim and they killed the Armenians because they were Catholic. In the Cambodian genocide Khmer Rouge targeted all types of Cambodians. Even though they both killed for religious beliefs they had differences as well. In the Cambodian genocide Khmer Rouge did everything because he wanted to establish a communist model of Mao Ze Dong's China. In the Armenian genocide the Ottoman Empire attacked Armenia because they were supporting Russia who was the Ottomans Empire enemy during WW1. The way the genocides ended was also different. In the Cambodian genocide Khmer Rouge got distracted by the conflict between Cambodia and Vietnam which caused the genocide to stop. In the Armenian genocide the Armenians joined the USSR which caused the Ottoman Empire to stop attacking.
Mayar Mansy 1) The Cambodian and Armenian genocides occurred on different period of time. The Cambodian genocide happened about 53 years after Armenian genocide. They have some similarities and differences as well. A huge number of people died in both genocides. They both had religion issues and religion was one of the reasons for the genocides. Politics was also another reason for why both of these genocides happened. Even though these two genocides have many similarities but they ended in different ways. In the Cambodian genocide, Vietnam invades and pushes down the Khmer Rouge but in the Armenian genocide, Armenia joins the Soviet Union (which were the Turkish's enemies). Even though million of people were killed but the Turkish today denies that this genocide ever happened. In the Cambodian genocide people could be killed if they laughed, cried or wore glasses. This was very shocking and different from the Armenian genocide.
Alisa Metovic:1. The Armenian and Cambodian genocides were two that have both endless comparisons and contrasts due simply to the fact that they were both genocides. The Armenian genocide took place in Western Armenia (Turkish Armenia) where the Armenians were oppressed and victimized by the Ottoman Empire. Here, the Armenians were deported from their homes on forced death marches to Syria and Iraq where many of them died on the way there. Others, were quickly massacred. Similarly, in Cambodia, many citizens were murdered while under the ruthless Khmer Rouge rule. Both genocides involved religious tensions. In Armenia, the Ottomans expected many of the Christians to convert to Islam, much of them declined this and therefore were killed. In Cambodia, citizens were expected to become communists and deny religion, the mainly Buddhists Cambodians were not pleased. The two events also resulted in over two million casualties each. On the contrary, the two genocides had differences. The Armenian Genocide could be argued that it was just bad luck and irony. Armenia was/is between Turkish and Soviet/Russian lands, and as the two were at war, they used Armenia as a battlefield. Cambodia on the other hand was tortured by its own people (Khmer Rouge, lead by Pol Pot) who tried to model Cambodia after Mao Ze Dong's China. In Armenia, (Islamic) religion was attempted to be spread, whilst in Cambodia all forms of religion were being banned and all were suppose to be Communists.
Ameera Khan :D
One main thing that i can say is similar between this two genocides had to do with religion. In the Armenian genocide, the Turks (Ottoman Empire) killed the Armenians because they had a religious conflict. The Armenians were Christian while on the other hand the Turks were Muslim. They forced the Armenians to convert to Islam. They didn't care about the Armenians opinion what so ever. In the Cambodian genocide, Khmer Rouge (leader of Pol Pot) killed all the religious people, burned the churches and temples of Cambodia. They even targeted the monks and priests. Along with them, the other half of the population got killed. These two genocides can relate because during this event, all the victims were being placed in labor/concentration camps. The difference between these genocides are the reasons for why the victims were killed. Khmer Rouge killed the Cambodian citizens because he wanted to establish a communist society like Mao Ze Dheng's China. He wanted perfection no matter what! He went so far with the idea that he would kill people for the most harmless reasons. These reasons would be things like getting killed for showing any kind of emotion in public (i.e.- crying or laughing). Music and entertainment was banned. The country even provided a uniform for all the people! Of course, these were very hard to follow. So in the end, approximately 3.5 million people died! In the Armenian genocide, people were killed by the Turks because of how they were being Allies with Russia. The Turks were strictly against this because the Russians were their enemy and they could not tolerate how people living in their country would support them. When i saw the videos online, i think they were very sad because when the speakers were telling us about their horrible experience, they would start crying and making the audience realize the pain with them. They would also talk about their struggles and it was very touching. The good part about this was that they survived out of everything and are living a much better lifestyle, where they are safe, happier and secure. They don't have to live with the fear of being killed by an oppressor.
Yennifer Posada
Throughout history many genocides have happened. Two of the genocides that have happened are the Cambodian and Armenian genocides. The Cambodian and Armenian genocides are similar and different in many ways. The Armenian genocide took place in the Ottoman Empire (Turkish Armenia) during WWI (1915-1918). The Cambodian genocide happened in Cambodia in 1975-1979. These two genocides are similar because they are both genocides. These both genocides involved a lot of deaths. The Cambodian created labor camps just as the Armenian did. These labor camps were for work to get done. The both genocides had murders and destruction of their government. The both genocides also had religious involvement. Both genocides had over 1 million casualties that happened. The Armenian and Cambodian genocides both had similarities.
Even though these were two genocides, they both were different. It was different because the Cambodian wanted to be communist because Khmer Rouge(Pol Pot was the leader) was trying to get Cambodia to be a communist country. He was the person who started all the genocide in Cambodia. The victims ended up being Cambodian citizens and people against communism. Khmer Rouge was trying to establish a communist society like Mao Ze Dong's in China. Many religious groups were killed because a communist country doesn't believe in religion. On the other hand, the Armenian genocide was different from the Cambodian genocide. The Turks were Muslim and Armenians were Christian so the Turks were making everyone to convert to Islam. If you wouldn't convert religion you would be killed. The people of Armenian were deported and some would be run over by trucks. People were starved. Overall, the Cambodian genocide and Armenian genocide were similar and different in their own way.
Tatyana Noori: The Cambodian and Armenian genocides can compare in many ways. In both places the citizens where being killed for unjust reasons. They were both being forced to choose a path they did not choose for themselves. Also religion and politics played a big role in both genocides. While in Armenia they were being forced to turn to Islam, Cambodians were being forced to leave religion. Ending very badly for the citizens who denied to do as they were told. Although both places had similarities the goals were different. In Cambodia the goal was to turn Cambodia into something that resembled Mao Ze Dong's China, but in Armenia the goal was to convert the people to Islam. Also in Cambodia they were being tortured by someone who was apart of their country (the Khmer Rouge). What similarities and differences I found interesting between both countries was how they were both being forced to choose between religions (and no religion) or death. The differences I found interesting was how they both had two completely different leaders but both inflicted so much damage in different ways. Something I found interesting about Pol Pot is how much he reminded me of Hitler. For example Hitler caused more damage then good to his country and people (even if they were Jewish and not considered a part of the country to Hitler). Pol Pot similar to Hitler thought he was changing the country for better instead he caused so many to suffer and die.
Mehak Mahmood Question number1:The Cambodian and Armenian genocides are both similar and different in many ways. The ways they were similar was that they both had religion conflict, they both believed that politics played a big role and, in both of the places many people had lost there lives .In Armenia the turkish(ottoman) wanted the people to convert to Islam since they were christian they did not except so they were put to death. In Cambodia a ruler named Khmer Rouge banned religion and so buddhist monks and christian missionaries were killed. As there were similarities they were differences among Armenia and Cambodia. One difference between them two was how they were tortured. In Cambodia people were sent to labor camps so there can be a mass execution of people in different groups. In Armenia people were sent to concentration camps, people were abandoned with no food/water, and women and children were kidnapped. As well when the Armenian turkish(ottoman) people did not except to convert they were tortured and then put to death. In Cambodia a ruler named Khmer Rouge killed many people and his excuse was that he wanted to create a communist utopia like Mao Ze Dong in China. Something similar I found interesting was that both leaders used dictorian power to rule either Cambodia or Armenia. And something different I found interesting was that they used different tactics to try to change people.
Saima Rehnuma (Question #1):The Cambodian and Armenian Genocides both have had their fare share of similarities and differences. The Armenian Genocide took place in Armenian Turkey, while the Ottoman Empire was ruling.This genocide carried from 1915- 1918, during WWI. The Cambodian genocide, however took place later on, around 1975-1979. To begin with the similarities, both these genocides held religious tensions between the victims of both these events. The Armenian Genocide, was focused on the Armenian's who lived in Turkey but were Christians compared to the majority of the Muslims. Because they were not Muslims, or did not turn Muslims they were deported, exiled, or killed. They were oppressed and that much tortured to the point that many were taken to labor camps (Hitler got his idea from this) and forced to do death marches where many died of starvation and torture. Similar to the religious conflict in Armenia, the Cambodian Genocide killed those that practiced religion. Buddhist monks and Muslims were killed because they practiced a religion and did not follow the communist aspects of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge whose leader was Pol Pot created a communist society inspired by Maoist China, and religion was an extra that to Pol Pot it was not needed. Like the Armenian Genocide those that opposed the rules and laws of Pol Pot's new government , were sent to labor and concentration camps where they were killed/ slaughtered. Both these genocides led to the death of millions of people.Regardless of the similarites of both genocides, both had diferences as well. The Armenian Genocide, could be said as being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Because the Armenian's were supporting Russia at this time, which was the Ottoman's enemy,they took it out on the Armenians. Not only was that the case but being Christian was not what the Ottoman's wanted, but a Muslim country. In the Cambodian Genocide, the main point of all this torture, was because Pol Pot wanted to reconstruct Cambodia like Mao Ze Dong's China. Rwan Elsanhoury: The Cambodian and Armenian genocides have many similarities and differences. The Cambodian genocide took place from 1975 to 1979, while the Armenian genocide took place from 1915 to 1918 The Cambodian genocide existed only because the Khmer Rouge (leader Pol Pot) wanted to establish a strong communist society. While the Armenian genocide took place due to religious conflict between the Muslims (Ottoman Empire) and Christians (Armenia), also because Armenia was supporting Russia during World War II which was the Ottoman Empire's enemy. Cambodian Genocide killed all religious groups, children, the elderly, anyone that was educated and anyone that was anti-communist. Cambodia was very strict if you showed any sort of emotion you would be killed. Cambodia also established labor camps. The Ottoman Empire slaughtered and abandoned the Armenians in the deserts of Syria or Mesopotamia leaving them to starve to death. Both countries where very intimidating and vile. Both countries wanted to strengthen their country. Also both genocides resulted with many deaths. After the Cambodian genocide Cambodia became democratic. Also after the Armenian genocide Armenia joins the Soviet Union.
Jessica Toro
Based on the 3generations video and also the article I read about the Cambodian genocide, they went thru a lot of struggles and everything was horrific to hear. Living under Khmer Rouge was very scary and what is even sadder little kids had to go thru days without laughing, and crying because he believed that was wrong and you deserve to get killed for that. Everything you did had to be what Khmer Rouge agreed with if not you be killed. In the movie the guy that survived the Cambodian genocide was the only one in the family to survive. It was sad when he said he felt guilty because he was the only one to survive and that makes me very upset because I would hate to have the guilt inside me .I found it shocking that people weren’t allowed to wear glasses because it showed intelligence.
Kristen Pou: (Question 1:) I sometimes get the feeling that once there is a huge turning point like war, the downfall of a leader or empire, or a change in government, chaos often follows. This is true for both the Armenian Genocide and the Cambodian Genocide. Communism was just on the rise and this political power plays a part in both genocides but in slightly different ways. The Cambodian Genocide began due to the leader of the Khmer Rogue’s, Pol Pot’s, desire to convert Cambodia into the Communist Utopia to follow in the steps of Mao’s China. This caused the massacres of the educated, the religious officials and the anti-communists. In the Armenian Genocide, Communisms role was as a savior from further genocide. When Armenia made the sacrifice and became part of the USSR, they ensured safety for themselves. Rather than causing the genocide like in the Cambodian Genocide, Communism helped to end the genocide in Armenia. In both genocides, religion and religious differences also had a role. In Cambodia, Pol Pot strived to create a communist state. Therefore, there had to be no religion at all. So killing religious groups, monks, priests, and missionaries and burning temples and churches helped his cause but helped create the genocide. In Armenia, Ottoman Turkey was determined to make Armenia Muslim. The violence was aimed at Armenian Christians. In both genocides, labor camps and concentration camps were also methods used. Cambodians and Armenians were forced from their homes.
There was also some differences in aspects of the Armenian Genocide and Cambodian Genocide. For example, The genocide in Armenia was carried out by an outside threat, Ottoman Turkey, while the genocide in Cambodia was somewhat like an internal conflict. Armenia was literally in the middle of a rivalry between two empires much stronger and bigger than it, Russia and Turkey. Armenia was separated between the two and although both empires were afraid of Armenians uprising, Turkey was the one to act on their fear and begin the genocide. In Cambodian, Pol Pot was in Cambodia and carried out the genocide in Cambodia with Cambodian pro-communists. Another difference was in the ends. Genocide in Cambodia was disrupted by conflict between Cambodia and Vietnam. In Armenia, as stated before, Armenia joined the USSR and was somewhat protected from Turkey. But even today, Turkey denies the genocide. One huge difference in method was in how Turkey carried out massacres. They called it deportation. They deported Armenians by foot into the Syrian and Mesopotamian deserts and left them there to die. In Cambodia, you were killed for doing anything out of the stoic uniformity.
Berevan Turan (Question #1: The Armenian Genocide and Cambodian Genocide have similarities and differences. The Armenian Genocide occurred during WWI from 1915-1918. However, the Cambodian Genocide took place in the Vietnam War during 1975-1979. Pol Pot, leader of Khmer Rouge, wanted to establish a communist country like Mao Ze Dong's China. Since they wanted a communist country, Pol Pot killed all religious groups, burned churches and temples and targeted monks and priests. Also he killed the killed kids, old people, people who were against communism and educated people. The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) wanted all the Armenian Christians who lived in Turkey to convert to Islam. Another reason why the Armenian Genocide occurred is because the Armenians were supporting Russia meanwhile Russia was Turkey's enemy during WWI. The method of the Turks to solve their religious conflicts was to deport, exile, slaughter, abduct, torture, and massacre the Armenians. They also abandoned the Armenians in the deserts of Syria/Mesopotamia. However, both Genocides had many similarities. One similarity was that both Genocides involved religious conflict. The fact that they were both genocides and both genocides have caused the death of many people were also similarities. Also both genocides involved working in labor camps and both were the killing of certain people. For example, the Armenian Genocide was the killing of only Armenian Turks and the Cambodian Genocide involved the killing of people who went against the Khmer Rouge. Both genocides were horrific and brutal.
Samantha Fabrizi: There weren't many similarities between the two genocides, but one thing they had in common was religion. In the Armenian genocide, the Turks killed the Armenians because of the religious conflict. The reason for this religious conflict was the Armenians were Christians and the Turks were Muslim, the Turks wanted the Armenians to convert to Islam. Now in the Cambodian genocide, Khmer Rouge, killed those against communist, Cambodian aspects, abolished all civil and political rights. He also banned religion. Khmer Rouge also killed all religious people and burned down temples and churches in Cambodia. Another similarity between both genocides were all victims were being places in concentration camps. Now the differences between both genocides were in Cambodia, many people were being forced to avoid music and any type of entertainment. If they laughed, cried, knew another language, or wore glasses they were killed. Honestly to me, that makes no sense. What if they needed glasses? Were they just supposed to walk around blind? The Armenian genocide, the Armenians were supporting Russia, who was the Ottoman Empires ( the Turks ) enemy during WWI. The women and children in Armenia were both abducted and horribly abused. Armenian people were subjected to deportation, expropriation, abduction, torture, massacre, and starvation. Armenia joined the USSR, and over one million people died. To this day, Turkey refuses to apologize for the genocide and denies it even happened! After I watched the videos, I realized how much all these people had to suffer. It was so sad watching them during the interview because they started shaking, and crying so much. You realized that they didn't have it east at all. After they finished, you knew that everything they went through made them stronger because they would smile at the end, and you just knew that they were happy and out of fear. Post #3 – Rwanda
What were your reactions to the learning about the Rwandan genocide today? Which survivor story we watched or read stuck out to you the most and why?
*** If you would like to watch the videos again here are the links :)
Alisa Metovic- Learning about the Rwandan genocide shocked me in class, mainly because I didn't even know it existed. At first, I was more in shock than saddened to find out that with in 100 day period, the Hutu's had managed to kill 1.2 million people. How is it even possible to kill 400 people with in an hour? Upon learning about how the Belgians contributed to this, I was even more annoyed. I feel that they had a great deal of responsibility for causing the genocide. Decades ago when they first settled in Rwanda, the Belgians tried to distinguish the Tutsi's from the Hutu's and adding more tension to the already existing tension amongst the two groups. The Europeans built up the confidence and power of the Tutsi's and this angered the Hutu's enough to rebel and desire revenge. Ann Marie's survivor story was one that stuck out to me the most. She was unfortunately registered a Tutsi, when in actuality she was a Hutu. The fact that she lost both her husband and son made her story seem even more realistic and tragic.
Gisselle Flores:
I thought that the Rwandan genocide was sad and crazy like any other war and genocide. It was also crazy how many people died especially how fast they died. I also thought that it was wrong how other countries didn't do much about this problem. About 400 people were dying per hour and other countries didn't do anything. The story that struck out to me the most was Valentina's story. This was the saddest story out of all because she was only 14years old and she lost her mom and aside from that she lost her fingers. The reporter saw Valentina at the beginning as a skinny girl who was going to die. But then three years later he went back and found out that she alive and when he saw her again he says that she looked better than before. This story also stood out to me the most because of the way she survived. Valentina had to lay next to all the dead bodies and what was worst is that she pretended to be dead next to her mom who was dead. Then she says that the dogs were eating all of the dead bodies. This story was mostly the saddest because she still dreams about her mom and when she wakes up she remembers that her mom is dead.
Samantha Fabrizi: To be honest, I had no idea that the Rwandan Genocide even existed. Learning about all the things that happened during that time really upset me. The amount of people killed during the amount of time this happened is unbelievable. 400 people within an hour it really bothered me. I hate how even though countries knew that this was happening, they did absolutely nothing about it! How could they just sit around and act like nothing is going on? For example, the story we read about Valentina really bothered me because she was so young while it was going on and she had to lay next to the dead bodies to protect herself, and she was laying next to her mother, who was dead. She went through so much, and you would think countries would try to help out. Another story that stood out to me was Ann Marie's. She went through so much it's unbelievable. I can't believe that they killed her son right in front of her.. It's heartbreaking. No mother would ever want to witness that. Even though i'm only 16, I would be so heartbroken if I saw that happen to any child. It really got me upset when she said that she was being raped, man after man, and she wanted someone to kill her. Her life was so bad that she wanted to die. I felt bad that she never saw her husband again... After she talked about everything she went through, and mentioned she went into a home with a group of people to find her identity, she said at the end that she's happy. I really made me feel good, because after everything she went though she made it, and now she's a very strong women.
Tatyana Noori- After learning about the Rwandan genocide I was left shocked. The Rwandan genocide happened in 1994 only two years before I was born. TWO YEARS!!! When Jen said we would be learning about the Rwandan genocide I was expecting to learn about something that happened 100 years ago or 50 years ago at the very least, but this was not long ago at all. When we heard all the survivor stories I couldn't believe what they were saying. I couldn't believe anyone could be so heartless and cruel and kill innocent children and rape women because they thought they were "saving them". More than 1 million people died in 100 days. Thats 400 people in an hour. The story that really stuck out to me was Frederick's story. I thought he was really brave to say no to the soldiers when they told him to kill all those people. He told them to kill him instead. They then started to kill everyone around him and as a punishment chopped off his hands. Not only is having to live with the memories of seeing people die and experiencing it first hand he had to live without his hands and he didnt even act like his life was over he kept his head high and chin up and kept living life. I couldnt belive what an amazing painter he turned out to be. I though he was an inspiration to people who think even when you go through the worst of things you can still be happy.
Ameera Khan:
The Rwandan genocide was very upsetting and disturbing. In every other genocide that I learned about, it was only about killing the person right there. But in the Rwandan genocide, the killers would torture the people before they even killed them which made them go through a painful death! It was literally like a living hell on Earth. I couldn't take it or hear anymore when I read about things like getting someone's hand off by a machete. Killing someone by hurting them like that is something I can't even imagine! People randomly killing someone just makes the person feel scared all the time. When I read about Valentina's story, I was this close to breaking down! Many girls and others have gone through the same. Raping and kidnapping was even worse. I wanted to punch Bagaruka when I read about the stuff he would make people do. It's really sad how a man who has a family of his own would make other people kill innocent people who belong to other families. The video that stood out to me from the G3NERATIONS site was "Ann Marie". I think I was really able to understand her pain because I am a female too and I would know what kind of feelings a woman would go through if anyone was in her position. From seeing her own son get stabbed while he's in her arms, to being used as many people's prostitutes, and never seeing her husband ever again is a very serious thing. I also wanted to cry and break down when I heard that she got infected from HIV/AIDS seriously. Although I became very happy to hear that today she is alive and having her son support her through everything. It's also a very great thing to see that she is being treated for her illness so her life can become a bit easier than before! If I would ever think my life sucks, I think I'm most likely going to think about this video and her story. This will definitely make me think twice. She will also be an inspiration to me because of the fact that she's still walking towards in life, even after she's been through so much.
Rwan Elsanhoury:The Rwandan genocide was a very disturbing and shocking genocide. I was shocked mostly by was that it only took place in 100 days yet there was 1.2 million deaths. When the Belgians were in charge the Hutu were treated badly and the Tutsi were favored. The Hutu were upset about it. That doesn't mean that once they take control in government that they should torture the Tutsi, fighting fire with fire doesn't cause anything but a bigger fire. Another thing that shocked me was that the fact other countries knew this was going on but did absolutely nothing about it. The Rwanda Patriotic Front were the heroes of this genocide. Also knowing that this only happened two years before I was born is shocking. The cause of this genocide all the Belgians fault if they hadn't treated the Hutu badly then the Hutu would have never started the genocide. The survivor story that stock out to me the most was Ann Marie's. She lost her son and husband who she was in love with in the genocide. Also she was registered as Tutsi when she was really a Hutu, she could have been killed but she was extremely lucky. Just hearing about it made me want to cry.
Saima Rehnuma:
The Rwandan Genocide was very tragic and disturbing. If there's one word to describe how I felt when I learned about the killing of 1.2 million Tutsi's in 100 days, it is gob-smacked. Learning that the Hutu's took revenge out on the Tutsi because the Tutsi's were favored during the reign of the Belgians upset me, yet it allows me to get a different P.O.V. of what the Hutu's must've felt when they were treated badly by the Belgians. It's shocking to know that much of the disaster and killing of this genocide was because of the actions of the Belgians. The display of favoritism towards the Tutsi's because of their appearance (ex: the size of their nose) and them being the superior race angered the Hutu's to create a internal hatred towards the Tutsi's. The thought of killing so many people in such little time is just scary. This genocide shows the brutal conditions of genocides and how traumatic it is. Ann Marie's story stood out to me the most. Because she stated she was a Tutsi, although she wasn't, she received cruel treatment. She had go through pain and abuse by the Hutu's for no reason. It makes me think that if she had only stated she was Hutu she would've been saved from the abuse and sexual assaults. After hearing that she was raped by Hutu guys one after another, made me want to put those Hutu guys in jail. It was devastating to know she got HIV/AIDS, but at the end it was good to know she survived the genocide.
Yennifer Posada
Throughout history many genocides have occurred. The Cambodian, Armenina, Bosnia and Holocaust have occurred. These are the common ones that we learn about, but I never knew there was a Rwanda genocide. When I learned about another genocide I was shocked,sad and angry that this had happened. I never knew that killers could kill so many people in 100 days! It is like they had fun killing people! The Rwanda genocide happened over 100 days because the Hutu’s were torturing, raping and forcing relocation of Tutsi people. Race didn’t matter, it just mattered what group you were in. The Hutu people killed 1.2 million Tutsi people in 100 days! It was as if they were killing 400 Tutsi people an hour. When I was copying this down from the board I was shocked because how could people be so cruel and kill that many people. I was sad because infants were now orphans and there was murder like if it was allowed that shouldn’t have never happened in the first place. I was angry that the Hutu people raped the remaining women and gave them diseases like HIV.This affected many women and killed many woman's souls and dreams. Jack Schwartz said,“Genocide is an attempt to exterminate people, not to alter their behavior.” I agree with Jack because genocides that happen are to exterminate and get rid of people not to change their behavior. The story that struck to me the most was Ann Marie’s story. It struck out to me the most because Ann was registered as a Tutsi when she was really a Hutu. The Hutu killed her husband and her son. Also, the fact that she was raped almost by every Hutu men that passed by where she was. It sucks that she had to suffer so much just because of the group that she was. She has HIV/Aids and wasn’t getting treated until she did the interview. She had another son and loves him to death. The fact that she survived after all she went through is a miracle.
The story that stuck out to me the most was Fredrick's story because he has no family left and he is disabled from all the damage the people did to his village and people .The reason I say this because he also said he rather had not lived throughout everything that happened to him .The people that did all the damage also killed many other people daily is wasn't just one village at a time it was several families being hurt and to make the people suffer kids were left orphaned and alone these kids only survived because they would hide under the dead to not be killed coldblooded kids were bashed head to head women were raped and or just shot all families were unsafe .The genocide wasn't stopped until much later because no countries wanted to get involved once things got worse many more soldiers were sent to stop the killings off the people and once it was stopped many people were still very afraid of the people who did the damage to them .Once the years passed by people still remember the cruel coldblooded killings of the people and off their families . Nashly Torres :)
Mayar Mansy The Rwandan genocide that we learned about shocked me so much. I had no idea people were that violent and so heartless. The Hutu killed 1.2 million people in only 100 days ! They were torturing and raping the Tutsi. The story that stuck out to me the most was Anne-Marie's story. It's really sad how her husband died and they killed her son in front of her eyes. Not only did they do that, but she was also raped by a guard and later on the interhamwe came and took turns raping her. This is very horrible how they literally used this woman as a sex object ! After getting her blood checked, she found out that she has HIV/AIDS. So, the genocide effected her in many ways. It took away her family, humiliated her and also affected her health. She's not going to be able to live for so long and take care of her other son but at least she's one of the very lucky survivors of the Rwandan genocide.
Emily Xhaferi:) The Rwandan Genocide that we learned about that day was very disturbing and very sad. 1.2 million Tsutsis were killed in the amount of 100 days.It's horrible knowing that the Hutus did this to the tsutis just because they werew favored by the Beligians. It really sucks knowing that other countries around the world knew about this huge conflict but didn't do anything to resolve it, to me it just seems like they didn't care. The story that stuck out to me the most was (I forgot his name but it was the guy without hands) yeah, that stuck out to me because i remember in one of the scenes a soldier asked him to kill all of these people, he didn't care if he was going to die that second. He said "no" because he doesn't want to be titled a "Murderer" like those cruel people were. He was threatened saying that they will cut off his hands... And what they did he explained was cut off his hands with a machete knife. However seeing how he was doing today really did bring a tear to my eye because he loves playing volleyball and painting. He paints amazing pictures without his hands! I can't even draw a stick figure WITH HANDS. It makes me happy knowing how these survivors saved themselves with the little hope they have. This happened two years before I was born. I honestly did not know what this was until we learned about it in class. It's crazy to see countries not helping eachother out. That's just horrible.
Mehak Mahmood: My reaction toward the Rwanda Genocide was that Iwas really shocked and surprised. I was amazed how basically the Hutus seeked revenge from the Tutsis because the Belgians favored them more. What happend to the poor 1.2 million people who died will never be fogoten. The survivour story that stood out to me the most was Ann Marie's. Her story stood out to me the most because she had a husband was living happily with a baby in her stomach and the Hutus just snatched it away from her. Her life for her was flawless with her incoming baby and husband who owned a beer store. When Ann Marrie went to primary school she didnt know what she was wheather it was a Hutu or Tutsi her friends were mostly Tutsi so she stood with them. Poor Ann Marie didnt know what was coming to her she was then put as a Tutsi so the genocides came took her husband and killed her incoming baby. Ann Marie was then used as an sex object. When she was digging her own grave officals came and claimed her as a Hutu instead of a Tutsi. Her life went to know where. What stook out to me the most was that she wasnt living for no one but was living for her son and her son only. If I was Ann Marie I would do the same, live for my child. I think she was a very brave women who went through alot.
Kristen Pou: I knew that there was a Rwandan Genocide but no one ever bothered to tell me what exactly it was about. I was kind of expecting something like what we learned the Rwandan Genocide actually was. But I was still really shocked. I think the biggest hit was the realization that the Tutsi people were attacked and murdered by their own neighbors, the Hutus. The Tutsi people would see the Hutu people everyday, probably acting completely civil and probably occasionally smiling at them, and before the could comprehend the reality of the situation they were being attacked by them. The amount of time it took to carry out the genocide also shocked and almost disgusted me. 1.2 million deaths may not be as dramatic as 6 million deaths by Hitler or even the at least 20 million deaths under Stalin, when that statistic is put with the 100 days that the genocide spanned, it’s pretty disgustingly amazing.
I think the survivor story that shocked me the most was Ann Marie’s. It’s just incredibly heart breaking to hear about a woman’s child being murdered before her eyes. I know it happens in times of war and genocide but for some reason, when a story like that is given a face and a voice it’s just all the more heart-wrenching.
Berevan Turan: The Rwandan Genocide we learned about in class today gave me a surprised reaction. It surprised me because it was crazy how 1.2 million Tutsis were killed by the Hutus in a 100 day time period. The Hutus killed them because when the Belgians came to Rwanda they treated the Tutsis good but treated the Hutus very badly. So when the Belgians left, the Hutus started a genocide to get their revenge back. Bagaruka was one of the Hutus the killed Tutsis and what surprised me was that he had a family of his own. The survivor story that stood out to me the most was Ann Marie's story. This story stood out the most because I can't believe that her baby got stabbed by the Hutus while she was holding him. The thing that shocked me the most was that she was identified as a Tutsi but she was actually a Hutu. So she basically wasn't supposed to be treated the way she was treated. Ann Marie was rapped by many Hutu men and when she was tested for HIV/AIDS the results were positive. I wonder how her life would of been right now if she wasn't identified as Tutsi. I honestly don't know how she could live her life going through all this that happened to her.
Jessica Toro
The Rwandan genocide was one of the worst genocide like any other. The genocide took 100 days but it seemed like it was forever because a lot of deaths occurred. It was shocking to hear that in one hour 400 people were killed. It all started because of Belgians treating the Tutsi better and treating the Hutu really poorly. When the Hutus took over they went against the Tutsi and treated them badly and killed them however they could. It got me really mad when the other countries knew what was happening but they did nothing to help. The story that stood out to me was the story of Frederick because he was sent to kill a person he decided that was wrong and said to kill him. But they didn’t do that they told him to stick out his hand and they would chop them his fingers off and that is what happened. It’s amazing how he does art work and is able to play volleyball.
POST #4 BOSNIAN GENOCIDE: What made the Bosnian genocide different and or similar from the other genocides we have learned about so far? What stuck out to you from our survivor story of the day? Also feel free to check out this great documentary on the Bosnian genocide for more information "A Cry from the Grave"
Alisa Metović: The Bosnian genocide is one that is both similar and different from to other genocides we've learned about so far. For starters, like the Holocaust, it involved/was based upon religious hatred. In Germany, the Nazi's hated the Jews, while in Bosnia, the Serbs hated the Bosnian Muslims. Like all the other genocides we've learned about, this one also took place in the Western Hemisphere and had a great amount of casualties. Similarly to the Cambodian genocide where the US interfered, America did the same, and Bill Clinton carried out his promise of creating peace between the Serbs and Bosnians by creating a peace accord. On the other hand, unlike the other genocides, one of the major causes of the Serbs oppression of the Bosnians was that there had been prior religious tensions. Likewise, both Serbia and Bosnia has been "untied under one brotherhood...Yugolsavia" as Marshal Tito (Yugoslav leader) has stated. In the end, it seemed as one brother being victimized by the other. On thing that stuck out to me from watching the survivor story, was the Srebrenica Massacre. I felt that it was too much like Nazi Germanys invasion of Poland showing history being repeated and how it shouldn't be repeated. Another thing was how involved the UN was with helping Bosnia, this is how the League of Nations should have helped the Jews during the Holocaust. At the end of the day, watching the video and learning more about the genocide made me feel like a Jew watching "Schindlers List". Feeling bad for ones own and being helpless.
Ameera Khan:I think all the genocides can relate to the Bosnian Genocide by sharing differences and similarities. The similarity between the Bosnian and other genocides is that they all dealt with religion and identity. The Holocaust, Cambodian, Armenian and Rwandan genocide dealt with this. The Rwandan wasn't really an actual religion based genocide, but was based on if you were a Tutsi or Hutu (identity). In the Bosnian genocide, problems took place because the Serbs (Orthodox Christians) wanted to make the Muslims of Bosnia convert into Orthodox Christian. The difference was that in the Bosnian Genocide, they had a "safe zone" opened up for the victims. There wasn't really any kind of zone in the other genocides. Even if the genocide came into an end, the oppressors would stop and give up with the torturing. In the Bosnian Genocide, it was much a different story. The genocide took place in the first place because of religion differences and the fact that the Serbs weren't happy that Bosnia declared it self independent. In April 22, the U.S. and European community wanted to identify the independence of Bosnia. Milosevic reacted to Bosnia's independence by just straight up attacking Sarajevo. To try to put a halt to this, a "safe zone" was opened up. Usually when a person sees/hears the word safe, they're supposed to feel happy and secured. But that was not the case here. Even after the people were placed in the "safe zone", they'd still get attacks from the Serbs from a distant shooting. The shocking part is that this all happened even though the U.N. was guarding the zone. (This is what made the Bosnian Genocide different). The thing that stuck out to me from the survivor story was how that lady buried her son in a forest/garden (I forgot what it was :/). Even after surviving she could've buried him in a graveyard. But I guess she wanted to do that after she found out who actually murdered her son and that would finally make her satisfied. Gisselle Flores:What was similar in the Bosnian genocide like the others is that there were many innocent people who died. There was also a target and an oppressor just like all the other genocides. In this case the victims were the Bosnian's and the oppressors were the Serbians. The cause of this genocide was the same as the Armenian genocide, religious problems. In the Bosnian genocide the Serbians were orthodox christian and the Bosnian's were Muslim. There was religious unresolved tensions between them and the Serbs were angry that Bosnia declared itself independent. What was different is that this genocide was mostly filmed by people. This was 1995 and there was video cameras, technology started to advance more and more and so there was people who recorded the genocide. Now the Serbs cant deny that any of this never happened like the Turks did, they haven't admitted that the Armenian genocide occurred. What was also different about this genocide is that there was a safe zone in the middle of the war. There was no other "safe" zone in any other genocide. What stuck out to me about the survivor we watched is that the lady buried her own son and no one knows that hes buried there because there's no sign. Also that the father was calling his own son to come to him because that's what the Serbs were ordering him to do. The Serbs wanted the family's together to then kill them anyways. What was sad is that there was so many bodies that were unidentified and just kept in an underground tunnel hallway thing. The bodies were just there stacked in rows.
Tatyana Noori-The Bosnian genocide was similar to the other genocides we learned about. It was similar because of one of the most obvious reasons, many people died and many were killed. The Bosnian genocide also reminded me of the Rwandan genocide. It reminded me of the Rwandan genocide because in the Rwandan genocide the Hutus people were killing the Tutsi people and they both resided in the same country. In the Bosnian genocide the Serbians resided in the same country as the Bosnian muslims. Yet despite the fact they both lived in the same country they were targeted and labeled as the enemy. Another thing that reminded me of the Rwandan genocide was when one of the fathers was calling his son to come out because thats what the serbians told him to do. In the Rwandan video one woman had to watch her son die because the soilder told her to bring out her son. What stuck out to me from the survivor stories we watched in class was, the woman who had buried her son and no one knew about him being buried there. It stuck out to me because when she was at his grave she kept crying and saying you don't deserve to be buried in the thorns and it made me feel very sad. My first thought was no one deserves to be buried that way. It made me think about how every time someone goes to visit a family member at their grave its quiet peaceful and there is a tombstone indicating who that person is making it easier to the people who knew him/her to pay their respects. Someone who happens to pass by her sons grave won't even know that he is buried their and people wont be able to get to visit him because they probably won't be able to find his burial spot.\ Rwan Elsanhoury: The Bosnian genocide has many similarities and differences with other genocides. The Bosnian genocide was caused because there was an unsolved feud between the Bosnian who were mainly Muslims and the Serbians which were mainly Orthodox Christian. Also the Serbs were angry that Bosnia claimed itself independent. These two religions were not able to get along at all. The President of Bosnia stated," Serbs and Muslims are like cats and dogs . They cannot live together in peace." Another genocide that happened because of religious differences was the Holocaust. The Nazis during the Holocaust were targeting the Jews. Also like all genocides that had happened there were many rapes, killings, and refugees. The Bosnian genocide was resolved with the help of the U.S. President Bill Clinton worked with NATO to help set a peace agreement with Serbia and Bosnia. The Armenian genocide was also resolved with the help of another country. Armenia joins the USSR and that helps end the genocide. Although the Rwandan genocide didn't receive any help from anyone. The Rwandans had to fight this battle on their own. The Bosnian genocide didn't have as many deaths as other genocides. In Selena's survivor story she lost many friends and many members of her extended family. What stuck out to me the most was that she has the only survivor story that I heard/read that still had her close relatives (mom, dad, siblings). She was lucky enough to escape to a refugee camp in Hungary and then be able to come to the U.S. Her story is very unique in that sense where that not many people get to survive/escape with their whole family.
This genocide is both similar and different because the us only had u.n soldiers and no one wanted to get involved so they wouldn't have enemies and or people that could possibly hurt them in any way that meant war and many countries losing their soldiers and or lives .It was also very different because the Serbs only targeted certain people not just anybody it meant that they were only out for specific people who weren't listening to what they had to say .I mean Hitler also went out to only the Jews yes he had one specific group he was out to kill but he killed way many more men ,children and women than the Serbs .The problem in Bosnia was a big one but, until people took notice many people would die everyday to be exact 400 people were killed daily . To resolve this Former president Bill Clinton had to take action and have the help of the NATO to help the war between the Serbs and Bosnians to stop .In the survivor story we watched something that really stuck out to me was the fact that this lady had all her family killed and was left all alone .She was able to survive and have a happy and healthy life but she is still very traumatized of her horrible past i mean having a war between groups and you being the side they hate must be awful .Once she might have noticed her whole family was killed she probably felt very alone and scared because she no longer had anyone she could depend on or anyone to help her in her time of need . - Nashly torres :) :D
Mayar Mansy: The Bosnian genocide was similar but also a little different from the other genocides that we learned about. This genocide was based more on religion since the Serbs were against the Muslim Bosnians. This can relate to the Holocaust because Adolf Hitler was anti-Semitic (hatred for Jews). All of the genocides have a major similarity though which is the numbers of innocent people that were killed. Another similarity was that women got rapped in the Bosnian genocide and also the Rwandan genocide. Some of the genocides were ending differently. The Bosnian genocide ended by the help of the U.S president at the time which was Bill Clinton by working with NATO to make a peace agreement with Serbia & Bosnia. The Cambodian genocide on the other hand ended by Vietnam invading and pushing down the Khmer Rouge. What stuck to me while watching the video was how Selena buried her son in a garden and no one knew that he was buried there. She cried so much because she thought her son did not deserve to die and get buried this way. I also think that no one deserves to be buried like that. I felt very bad for her and all the other mothers that lost their kids/family.
Jessica Toro
The Bosnian genocide has similarities and differences with the other genocides we have learned in class. The Bosnian genocide was based on religion trying to convert Bosnian Muslims into orthodox Christian. I think it’s not right to try to convert people to a religion that you think its right. But the Serbs were mad that the Bosnians declared their independence and free from their Serbs. This genocide reminded me of the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust because both genocides were going against religion. But the difference was that Bosnian genocide received help from Bill Clinton signing a peace treatment between the Bosnians and the Serbs. The U.N got involved and tried to stop the genocide but they were not allowed to really do anything to not start another war. In the movie the shocking part was when the women buried her own child and when she says you don’t deserve to be buried with thorns I imagine all the people that step on it and not know there is a kid buried there.
Emily Xhaferi
The Bosnian Genocide does have similarities and differences with all the other genocides we have talked/learned about in class. This Genocide was more different because it was based mostly on Religion. Basically trying to convert Muslims into Christian, or Orthodox. The similarities were all the innocent people that died. The Bosnian Genocide also reminded me mostly of the Rwandan Genocide because in the Rwandan genocide the hutu's and the tsuti's where fighting against each other and killing each other although they both live in the same country, So I can relate the Bosnian Genocide to the Rwandan genocide in a way. The survivor story that stuck out to me the most was the women from "A cry from the grave". The women who's son was killed and she buried him somewhere in the woods. That stuck out to me the most because I find that so crazy. How a mother has to bury her own son and she still hasn't found the remains of her husband. That part really got me sad. Well i mean the whole Documentary got me sad but her story hurts the most. And I can understand what she was saying in some parts because since I'm from Albania we also know other languages from the countries around us. It feels kind of weird to me though because this is all happening right next to my country, well "former Yugoslavia". I was also very sad because her husbands name is Ramo and that's my dads name, and i just kept thinking about what if i was in a position like that with my family ): I'm so thankful for where I am today and very happy to still have survivors from these genocides to tell us their stories.
Mehak Mahmood:
The Bosnia Genocide was both similar and different from the other genocide we had disscussed in class. The Bosnia genocide was similar to the Armenian genocide which was that they both had religious conflicts. The Bosnia genocide had targeted there people in cruel ways for example, shooting, rapes, and mass destruction,just as the other genocides did. They all had their own opppressors and own leaders who started the genocide tension. They killed many innocent people which leaded to a less population in their government. Another similarity was that Bill Clinton interfered in the Bosnian genocide by signing a peace agreement and in Cambodia the U.S. interfered. The Bosnia genocide was similar and they were different to. The Bosnian were different because they had a different oppressor, diffrent leader, difference in destruction as in destruction of Mosques, and the Bosnian declared their independence rather then the other genocides which had a different story. During the Bosnian genocide there were very few survivors.One survivor story was Selena. Selena lost many of her friends and members of her extended family. What stood out to me the most was that this was the only survivor story that I read that still had her parents and siblings alive.
Nadia Espinoza : The Bosnian genocide was both different and similar at the same time. During the Bosnian genocide the Serbians were orthodox christian and they were the oppressors who killed Muslims in Bosnia, because the Serbians wanted the Muslims to convert to christianity. During the Bosnian genocide there was this place called the safe spot where some Muslims would get saved. During other genocides most of them did not have a spot where most of them would be saved. President Bill Clinton said that he was going to do something and he worked with NATO to help setup a peace agreement between Serbia and Bosnia. A small group from the United Nations was sent to guard the “safe zone”. While the UN was guarding the safe zone 8,000 men were slaughtered. The genocides were the same in the way that many people die. Samantha Fabrizi:The Bosnian genocide has both similarities and differences with the other genocides we've discussed. The Bosnian genocide had more differences mainly because it mostly talked about religion. From reading the story in class, I learned that oppressors were the Serbians who were Orthodox Christians. The Serbians made the Muslims their target and killed them because they wanted the Muslims to convert to Christianity. This reminds me of the Armenian and Cambodian genocide because there was religious conflicts in both genocides. Another similarity between all the genocides were a numerous amount of innocent people were killed. One difference between the Bosnian genocide and the Rwandan genocide was in the Bosnian genocide people interfered and did something about it! But in the Rwandan genocide the US and other governments around the country knew about it and did nothing about it! Another difference would be, even though it ended with a lot of innocent people dying because they were Muslim, it ended with Pres. Bill Clinton working with NATO help set up a peace agreement between Serbia and Bosnia. The survivor story, stuck out a lot to me because the women's son was killed and she buried him somewhere in the woods, and she would always go and visit him. I give her a lot of courage because it must be so hard to bury your own child. It upset me when they mentioned that she hasn't found the remains of her husband yet. I don't know how she feels but I know our family friend does. Her daughter died on 9/11 and they didn't find any of her remains so she's not buried anywhere, and her husband passed away a year ago, and she visits him all the time. It just makes me sad that people actually have to go through that and bury their own child or loved one. I hope I never ever have to go through something like that, because I don't know if I could be as strong as they are. Kristen Pou: The Bosnian Genocide is like the other genocides we’ve learned about in the fact that it’s a Genocide and one group of people were targeted by another. Also similar to the other Genocides, the people being attacked were targeted because of a specific cultural difference. In the Bosnian Genocide’s case the cultural difference was religion which was like the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the Cambodian Genocide. The Bosnian Genocide, like a lot of other genocides was carried out with the same methods. Massacres, weapons of war, relocation, and rape were some of the things similar to other genocides that took place during the Bosnian Genocide. Unlike the other genocides we discussed in class, there was more interference from the outside, international world in the Bosnian Genocide; Yet the outside world still didn’t do enough. The UN had troops in Serbia/Bosnia during the time of the the genocide but the troops could only watch over and were not to fight. However, similar to the Cambodian Genocide, the U.S.’s involvement in the genocide helped to end the conflict with a peace agreement. One last similarity was the idea of ethnically cleansing. The idea wasn’t clearly stated in the other genocides as it was in the Bosnian Genocide, it was a big idea in the other genocides we’ve talked about and even most genocides in general. I think the thing that stuck out to me the most in Selena’s survivor story was the sign that Arkan waited for before attacking the Muslim population in Selena’s area. It was sort of creative but blatantly discriminative. It made the Muslim population know that they were the target and any measure would be taken to exterminate them. In the documentary we saw, I think the thing that stuck out to me was that everything or almost everything was documented with pretty modern camcorders. It reminds me that this isn’t ancient history and barbaric acts like these still happen. Another thing was when the women were visiting Srebrenica and were praying and you could hear their crying. I felt my throat choke up. The women didn’t even seem that old.
Berevan Turan : The Bosnian Genocide has its similarities and differences from all the other genocides we've learned about in class. One similarity is that every single genocide we learned about involved discrimination. In the Holocaust, Hitler and his Nazi party exterminated people who weren't a part of the Aryan race. The Armenian Genocide was when the Turks murdered every single Armenian who didn't follow the religion of Islam and this only applied to the Armenians who lived in Turkey. The Bosnian Genocide was when the Serbs slaughtered the Bosnians for being Muslim. Another reason they are similar is the fact that they are all genocides. The Rwandan Genocide and the Bosnian genocide both involved victims (women) who were raped by the oppressors. Also the Bosnian Genocide, the Armenian Genocide, and the Holocaust all had concentration camps and all moved the victims from their homes to inhumane locations. In the Cambodian Genocide churches and temples were burned which was similar to Bosnian Genocide when the mosques were destroyed. One difference is that in the Bosnian Genocide there was a safe zone for all the victims to stay at meanwhile the other genocides had no type of place to be "safe". Another difference is that the Armenian genocide was caused because of past conflict with Russia. Armenians supporting Russians is what caused the tension to grow between the Turks and the Armenians because the Turks had problems in the past with the Russians. No other genocide was caused because of a past problem with a different country. The thing that stuck out to me the most was that Selena buried her son with her own bare hands after he was killed by the Serbs. This stuck out to me because she was very brave and I would be scared to bury my own son without anyone else knowing. I feel really bad for her because she also lost her husband in this genocide. The way she was crying made me so sad because there's many other people survivors in this genocide that go through the same thing as she does.
Michelle Bravo: Post #2 The Armenian and Cambodian Genocide were similar and different in many ways. Armenia (Ottoman Empire/Turkish Armenia) and Cambodia had both made labor camps were labor was put upon citizens. Destruction of government was heavily influenced in both these Genocides. They were different by Cambodia was trying to become a communist country because of their leader who was influenced by China's government. Communist countries don't believe in religion so most religious societies or groups were killed or banned. In Armenia if you weren't Islam it was an automatic death sentence. If you were Christian you were to convert Islam and if you refused they would kill you. My reactions to the struggles of Camboian citizens is that how easily they could be killed, the slightesous isn't of emotion and it was over. You could be killed for laughing, crying or even wearing glasses (glasses is a sign of intelligence).
Saima Rehnuma: There are many similarities and differences between the Bosnian Genocide and the other genocides. To begin with the Holocaust was based upon a religious hatred towards the Jews and a discrimation and extermination of those that aren't the A ryan race. Similar to that the Bosnian Genocide was held because of the religious hatred by the Serbs towards the Bosnian Muslims. The Serbs were Orhtodox Christians while the majority of Bosnia was muslim. S once Bosnia achieved independence, the President of Bosnia who was a Serbian wanted to ethnically cleanse the country. He believed that Muslims and the Serbs will always stay in unrest if they stayed together, and that's why he stated " Serbs and Muslims are like cats and dogs. They cannot live together in peace". Because of his view against muslims the Serbs began the massacre of killing Bosnian muslims. Similar to the Cambodian Gebnocide the U.S. interfered to end the mass murder. Bill Clinton sent out to troops to create a safe place for the muslims, and created a peace treaty between the muslims and serbs. Along, with the simi;larites present in thise genocide with the others, it contains differences as well. Much of the masssacre added up to very few deaths compared to the Rwandan genocide and the others. A part that stuck out to me from the survivor story, was when a group of women got out of the bus to return to the place where there family died. It really touched me when one of the ladies broke down, after remembering that her child died here. It reminded me of the sacrifices and pain these people wnet through, but not just in this genocide but the others as well. However, I felt relieved knowing that she was alive and did not face the killing of this genocide.
Yennifer Posada
Genocides have occurred for so long. The Rwanda, Cambodia, Armenian, Holocaust and Bosnia genocides all have similarities and differences. All the genocides including the Bosnian genocide are similar because all the innocent civilians died. All the genocides are similar in that they include how there was mass shooting, raping women and girls and ruining everything the enemy could to make the victims suffer. Families were destroyed and separated. Children were left orphans and abandoned because they had no one to take care of them. In the Cambodian genocide the U.S. got involved by sending military troops just like Bill Clinton did for the Bosnian genocide. Bill Clinton was suppose to stop and make these country have peace. In the Bosnian, Armenian and the Rwanda genocide all had to do from one side you were on. In the Rwanda genocide it mattered if you were a Hutu or a Tutsi. In the Bosnia and Armenia genocide religion was the main factor. In the Bosnia genocide the Serbs wanted to convert the Bosnian Muslims to Orthodox Christianity. The Serbs wanted all to be one religion and not be a distant religion. In the Armenian genocide the Turks wanted to turn everyone Muslim but the Armenians were Christian. Since the Armenians didn’t convert they were tortured. However in the Holocaust, Hitler with his Nazi party not only targeted Jews but also targeted Slavs, Gypsies, disabled, political dissents and homosexuals. Hitler was a powerful leader and he tortured Jews in specific because he wanted the white supremacy to be in Germany. Each genocide had many casualties but the one that struck out the most was the one in Rwanda that lasted 100 days and 1.2 million Tutsi people were killed, slaughtered and tortured. These genocides include all selfish and cruel people that do not know how to value humanism and torture people because they don’t like what is happening so torturing for them is an option. What stuck out to me from the survivor story is that she her son had been killed and she had the guts and go bury her son out in the woods where there was no one. As a mother, she is the bravest woman because she lost her husband because the Serbs took him and then she went and buried her son with her own hands. This was extremely brave and courageous of her because she has lived through so much and has the strength to go back into Bosnia (she is living at a different place now) and go through her past. This survivor story touched me the most and therefore gave me goosebumps.
Stephanie Ramirez :D The Bosnian genocide had a lot of similarities and differences from the other genocides that we had learned so far. Some similarities were that they all had a major affect on people, and it affectpet their life's. Also the Armonican, Cambodian, Rwandan, and the holocaust had killing, rape, people got sent to other places, the people had to do what they had been told if not they would die, basically everything led to very bad things. The differences was the leader and how it started and where it took place. The Bosnian genocide started because the Serbs were disagreeing with the idea of the Muslim living in Bosnia. They couldn't live together. According to people they were like "cats and dogs" even though now a days we now that cats and dogs do live together, like for example Jen's cat and dog they are best friend she even has a bird! :D What stuck out to me from the video was how in the beginning the lady buried her son. It was also sad how the father would call his son and tell him it was safe to come out. Having a lot of dead bodies stacked up the the rstub also stuck out to me and how they would try to find out their identity. >:O
POST #5 DARFUR-- From our entire unit of study you have learned that genocide has occurred throughout the world at various times in history. What are some comparisons you can make between the genocide going on in Darfur today and the other genocides we have discussed? Do you have any suggestions about how we can make genocide a "never again" for the future?
Feel free to watch more of the documentary " The Devil came on Horseback" it live streams on Netflix
Tatyana Noori- The Darfur genocide reminds me a little of the Bosnian genocide. It reminds me of the Bosnian genocide because in the Bosnian genocide the Serbians were killing the Bosnian muslims and in the Darfur genocide muslims are also being targeted. The Darfur genocide is also similar to the Rwandan genocide because of the rapes. The woman in Rwanda had a better chance of living because they would most likely get raped instead of killed. While the men would instantly be killed. In Darfur they send the woman out to collect stuff like wood instead of the men because the woman have a higher chance of living because instead of instant death because they are more susceptible to rape. In all honesty I don't think there is a way we can make genocide a "never again" thing for the future. I don't think it's possible because people put themselves and their country ahead of everything else, and with all the problems we are facing in the world, focusing on another country and their problems isn't something that is likely to happen. The idea of not having genocide occur sounds amazing, but it's more of a Utopian idea then reality.
Ameera Khan:D
One big comparison that I can make between all the genocides that we have learned about so far is that all these genocides have dealt with land and invasions. The oppressors that would take invade the land and hurt the victims would forcefully take their land/belongings/family and torture them since then. These conflicts would all start because of how the people living in this land would have skin/religion differences. Usually if people live in one country, they stay as a team and fight for each other. These genocides are so sad because instead of fighting for each other, the people living in their country are fighting with each other. The Rwandan genocide, the killers would randomly attack, rape, kidnap and torture you. In the Darfur genocide, the killers did the same and made them suffer by not even giving them a roof to live under. Another thing that most of these genocides have a similarity with is that they didn't receive enough help for their lives to become better. In Darfur, the United States has/does a lot as possible to make their lives better and happy. But they need way more than that. Someone needs to look at the women who are so scared to even go out in the lands of Darfur to get food for their family. Someone needs to clear the land up by removing the rapists and kidnappers that hurt the women. To prevent these genocides from never happen is to separate the people by dividing the land. There is a possibility that this can become less of a chaos. But we all just have to hope that no one messes it up and makes reality better than dreams and hopes!
Gisselle Flores The genocide that is going on today is similar to the ones that have passed in the past because they all have innocent people who died. Most of the genocides we learned about started because of religious conflicts. They also started mostly because of racism. The Ottoman Empire didn't like the Armenians because they were Catholic and the Ottoman Empire were Muslim. What's strange about this is that the Armenians were a part of Turkey and Ottoman Empire was Turkish as well so they basically betrayed their own kind. The Darfur genocide reminds me of the Armenian genocide because they as well betray their own kind. The Arabs are killing the Muslims. The Arabs are white and the Muslims are dark skinned which is another reason why there killing each other. For the future, genocides don't have to exist if there is no more racism. But with all the hate that is going on in the world this won't happen. In order for this to happen everyone has to be treated equally.
Saima Rehnuma
There have been many genocides that occurred at various times in history. They all have similarities and differences, and like any other the Darfur Genocide has too. The Darfur Genocide was a mass murder against darker skinned muslims and christians, by the lighter skinned muslims who are the Arabs. This genocide began when the darker skinned muslims attacked the government because they felt they received unfair treatment. The government in return sent an Arab milita, named the Janjaweed to kill those that attacked the governemnt but it reached to such extremes that the Janjaweed began murdering all the darker skinned Muslims and Christians. The Sudanese government in this case did not interfere in stopping this genocide, yet explains to other world power that they do not agree to this murder,but it is not in their hands to stop this.This genocide is similar to the Armenian Genocide because the people of Darfur are targeting their own people, based on skin color. Similarly, the Armenian Genocide began with the killing of the Armenians, however different they were, they were part of Turkey. Not only is the Darfur genocide similar ot the Armenian but the Bosnian Genocide as well, because in obth cases the Muslims were being targeted. Along with that, the Darfur genocide used rape as a tactic to destroy familes similar to the Rwandan genocide. Most of the women were raped as a way for revenge, violence, or the breaking up of familes. All these genocides seem horrifying to everyone and we all want to end it; however it can only end when we view each other all equally. This may be difficult because in every society and community we have levels and classification for each other, and the same goes with race and religion. But it can work if we all try to treat each other equally and view each other as god's children! Like Martin Luther King Jr. said "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal".
Mayar Mansy: Many Genocides had been going on at different times in history. The Darfur genocide is similar to some of the other genocides that occurred. The Big difference that the Darfur genocide has with the other genocides that we learned about is that it's still going on/happening today. It started because the darker skinned Muslims in Darfur felt like that the government treated the lighter skinned Muslims better. The darker skinned Muslims attacked the government due to that mistreatment. The government replied by sending a militia called the Janjaweed to kill the people who attacked them. This is similar to the Armenian genocide because they were also killing their own people. Even though in Darfur, Most of them had the same religion but they still fought. Another similarity that the Darfur genocide had with other genocides is that most of them suffered from thirst and hunger. Also, women/females were treated badly and got rapped just like the Rwandan genocide. All of these genocides need to end because innocent people are dying and getting horrible treatment. This can be solved if people stop being racist and mean, they should have some feelings because we're all human beings. we all have something in common somehow and we all should be treated equally/ the same (-:
Alisa Metovic: Many genocides can be compared to one another simply because they are genocides. To be considered a genocide, the event must involve the extermination of a national, racial, political or ethnic group of people. In Darfur, citizens are targeted by the Sudanese Janjiweed. Similar to the Rwandan genocide, the genocide in Darfur involves rape and torture. In Darfur, the government wants control of the regions farmland, this is alike to the Serbian government wanting control of Bosnia under Yugoslavia in the Bosnian genocide. Similar to both the Bosnian genocide and the Holocaust, the genocide in Darfur involves the oppression of a Religious group (the Muslims). When it comes to putting an end to genocides in general, I highly doubt that it's possible. From the beginning of time, different groups of people haven't gotten along, and people have oppressed others. This is a humane way of life that isn't easy to put a stop to. What I do think can improve, is the will of others to recognize and help those who are being attacked in a genocidal way.
Yennifer Posada Genocides sadly occur but they shouldn’t even exist. The Darfur genocide is extremely disappointing. This genocide is about two things. The first one is that the government wanted to control all the farmland in Darfur to know what there was. The second thing is that the lighter skinned Muslims were targeting the darker skinned Muslims and some Christians. This is ridiculous because the Darfur people are attacking their same race only because the others have darker skin than the lighter skinned people. Just because your skin is another color it shouldn’t have been turned into a genocide that killed many innocent citizens. John Locke, one of the Enlightenment thinkers would be upset at what is happening in the world. If John Locke would were here today, he would have rebelled against the lighter skinned Muslims because of the way that there are no equal rights among these Darfur citizens. John would urge for natural rights to take place and would make sure each Muslim and Christian citizen have the rights they deserve just because they are human. This genocide compares to the other genocide that have happened in history. The Rwanda genocide is similar because the Tutsi and Hutu people are both from Rwanda but they both attack each other because of the group that they belong too. This is hectic because instead of working together they are attacking each other and destroying land and valuable irreplaceable things that later will cost them a lot. There is similar tactic that the Armenian, Cambodia, the Holocaust, Rwanda and Darfur used is that they all treated women horribly. The women are taken advantage of and are used as a toy by raping them and destroying their body and moral inside of them. Chief Joseph said, “The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.” This quote resembles how even though you were born on this planet you deserve rights no matter what and John Locke would definitely agree with him. In order for there to be a “never again genocide” there needs to be peace within the same culture no matter what religion or what how light or dark your skin is. There needs to be respect for everyone no matter if you are a higher or lower class. Instead of fighting and turning the problem into a genocide, people before they start fighting should talk things out and set an agreement so innocent lives aren’t sacrificed. If every country was satisfied with what they had and no one would start shooting at each other there would never be a genocide ever again.
Kristen Pou: I think one big similarity between the genocide in Darfur and the genocides we previously learned about in class is that religion played a huge part in most of them. In the Holocaust, the Armenian and Cambodian genocides, and the Bosnian Genocide people were targeted because of their religion. Likewise, in Darfur people were targeted because of their religion and appearance. The darker skinned Muslims were targeted by the lighter skinned Muslims who were arguably their own kind. I don’t think I can say I have any ideas to make Genocide a “Never Again” That thing kind of seems impossible. We have the UN for conflicts to be talked out and peace keeping troops but it doesn’t ever seem to be enough. People first have to realize that while no one is exactly the same, we are the same. We are all humans who hopefully want to live their life on their own path. Sometimes those paths cross and collide. But we can’t focus on hate that we hold for someone who is slightly different than us. I think as soon as people learn to put differences aside and respect and tolerate everyone then we can begin to think of ways to really diminish genocide possibly forever.
Berevan Turan: The genocide that is happening right now in Darfur is similar from the other genocides we learned about but it is also different. The Darfur genocide is systematic just like the Holocaust, Armenian, Cambodian, Rwandan, and Bosnian genocides. In the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides, the victims moved to refugee camps because they were fleeing from their homes just like the Darfur people did in their genocide. Just like the Darfur genocide, the Rwandan genocide started because of one group that felt that they got less attention than the other group. In the Rwandan genocide, the Hutus started a genocide because they felt like the Tutsis were being treated better by the Belgians and in the Darfur Genocide the light skinned Muslims started a genocide because they felt like the dark skinned Muslims and Christians were getting more attention from the government. The genocides are also similiar to the Darfur genocide because in all the other genocides, except the Holocaust and Cambodian genocide, women were raped and being mistreated. The Darfur genocide had military groups that attacked their victims. The Cambodian genocide had the Khmer Rouge as a military group, the Holocaust had the Nazis, the Interhamwe was considered the "bad" military group and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) was the "good" military group in the Rwandan genocide and the Darfur genocide had the Janjaweed as a military group. The fact that the Darfur genocide started in 2003 to present day is a difference because it was the only genocide that lasted the longest and that is still going on today. I believe one way to stop genocides is to not judge people and to not say rude comments towards a specific group. I also think that you shouldn't treat one group better than the other because everyone deserves to be treated equally especially because we're all human beings.
Rwan Elsanhoury:The genocide in Darfur has a lot of similarities with other past genocides. This genocide is a lot like the Rwandan genocide. In Darfur the lighter skinned Muslims were treated much better than the darker skinned Muslims. The darker skinned Sudanese was furious so they decided to attack the government, which then led to the government target the darker skinned. In Rwanda the Belgiums favored the Tutsis which aggravated the Hutus. Later on the Hutus took over and targeted the Tutsi because they were favored by the Belgiums. Also in the Armenian, Holocaust, Bosnian, and Cambodian genocides a specific religion was targeted. One way to prevent genocides clearly is to not favor any specific group of people; everyone should just be treated equally (which is nearly impossible in this world). If you hate a specific group of people or prefer another group of people try really hard to treat them the same. As adults tell young ones to keep their comments to themselves, governments should try doing that more often. If everyone was equal that there would not be a need for a genocide. Genocides are just a mass killing of a specific group of people because of what they are or believe in. So the only way to prevent it from happening is making everyone love and accept each other which is massively impossible.
Mehak Mahmood: Genocide in Darfur is still occuring even through this day. There are some comparisons in which the other genocides have between themselves. All the genocides that had ever occurred never ended purely because one side always had problems with the other side. Another comparison is that the Bosnian, Armenian, Cambodian, Rwanda, and the Darfur all had
religious/racial conflicts.For example the Armenian genocide was when the Ottoman betrayed there own kind the only difference was that they both had different religions just like Darfur who betrayed there own kind and attacked because they had different skin tones. Within all the genocides not even one ended purely. All the genocides that had occurred caused many deaths and damages. If we don't want any of these genocides to occur again people have to take action and motivate eachother to stop this drama. We as a strong nation should give speeches,donate food, and try to put a stop if we can and as well show people how and what the survivors went through.
Nadia Espinoza: The genocides that we have learned about all are similar in the way that they started because of religious conflicts. The Armenians were Christians and the Turks were Muslim. The Turks killed the Armenians because they were not Christians. Bosnia declared its independence and its targets were Bosnian Muslims. In Darfur the Arab Militia or known as the Janjaweed, are the ones who are caring out the genocide they are supported by the Sudanese government. The real problem was skin color the dark color and the light colored people. But really having a “never again” is really hard and we have the United Nations to be discussing these problems, they could agree on agreements but one can never be satisfied because one always wants more. This was similar to Hitler when he was given Czechoslovakia he still took over other countries because what they really did was spoon feed Hitler and at the end he still wanted more.
Jessica Toro
All of the genocides that we learned in class happen different times but have a lot in common. The Darfur genocide is still going on I thought we were not going to let happen ever again. The Darfur genocide reminds me of the Armenian genocide because they both are attacking their own race. The darker skinned Muslims attacked the government and the government sent a group called Jajaweed to attack them back. The light skin believed that the darker skin Muslims and Christians were getting more attention. What bothers me a lot of the genocide women were being raped and used as a tool to ruin their lives. I believe in order to stop a genocide you need to separate the two groups that aren’t getting along and keep them away from each other so they don’t attack.
Post #1: What were your reactions to the Holocaust true story you read today?
Tatyana Noori-
My reactions to the Holocaust true story was disgust mixed with sadness. I felt very horrible reading Solomon Radasky's story. When he mentioned seeing the kids being thrown into the crematorium alive all I could think was how could anybody be so heartless and cruel towards children. I felt horrible that he had o witness so many horrible events and had to live through it. The only part that made me smile is when he was talking about his wife and how she was so shy and wouldn't look at him, i thought that was very cute. I was happy that he survived but i can't stop thinking about how his life was after everything he's been through. I can only imagine how living through an event like that would traumatize a person.
Jessica Toro
In my group, we read about a survivor of the holocaust, Solomom Radasky. He was born in Warsaw, Poland, on May 17, 1910. During the war he was in the Warsaw ghetto and concentration camp. While he was in the concentration he went through a lot and suffers a lot because he losses a lot of family members when the Jews are in the concentration camp. The holocaust was very hard and what he had to go thru was very upsetting. When he says, “"Who wants to go up first on the bench? You had to go stand on the bench and put the rope around your neck. I was in the first three to go up on the bench. I climbed up and put the rope around my neck. He started beating us. He beat me so much the blood was running down my head.” When I read this I was in shock he was about to lose his life because someone was doing something they weren’t suppose to do but the person that did it didn’t want to admit so that meant everyone had to suffer and hang themselves. I didn’t like how they called Jews dogs it bothers me there humans just like everybody else but they got treated different. It’s crazy how he survives two times and is able to remember every little detail that happen in the concentration camp. I found it good that in the groups they were in they would try to help one another. I’m glad he didn’t let himself down even if all of his family was murder he looked at that bright side and smiled.
Yennifer Posada
The Holocaust has been always talked about. In class we did a Holocaust Investigation Activity. The person that interested me the most was Jeannine Burk's. She was one of the two females that survived the Holocaust. Jeannine's story touched me emotionally. Jeannine was born in Brussels, Belgium on September 15, 1939. Her life during the wartime was being a hidden child. Jeannine was a hidden child because she was sent to a home from age’s three to five. Jeannine's father was the one who left her in the home. Jeannine sates, "That was the last time I ever saw my father." When I read this I was moved by it because when you’re a three year old you want to be with your parents and you don't know what is going on. It is sad how Jeannine never saw her father again. I can't imagine being without my father or my mom. Being Jewish affected her life a lot. She had to be separated from her family. Her childhood was taken away from her because in the house she was staying there were no toys for her. She only was allowed to go to the backyard once in a while but never in front because the neighbors might see that she was staying there. Jeannine says, "I was never mistreated. Ever! But I was never loved." Even though she was safe, it meant that she didn't have a family or love from her loved ones especially her parents. This bothered me because thinking of a child not getting love is depressing . depressing. Even though she suffered at the she was able to reunite with her family. In 1944, her mother went to get her when we she was five years old at the house she was hiding in. I was so relieved that she was with her mother, sister and brother united again. Jeannine then was had been able to get adopted because her mother died and then she came to the United States. When she was 10 years old she had her first doll. After reading this, I am grateful that I have my parents and I live in a home where I don't have to hide myself. This makes me realize how lucky I am. I think if the Holocaust wasn't considered a genocide people would think that it wasn't as bad as they thought. This genocide was harsh and innocent people died because of Hitler (the totalitarian dictator of Germany). Hitler was anti- Semitism anti-Semitism meaning that he hated the Jewish people. This made billions of Jewish people die including Jeannine's father. I am relieved that the Nuremberg Trials held everyone involved in the Holocaust responsible because they believed those people should be punished because of how they treated Jewish people, Slavs, Gypsies, homosexuals, disabled and political dissidents. Genocide what destroys people and Nicola Reindorp said, “The international community must never again allow genocide or mass murder to go unchecked. This is a moral issue of huge importance and will establish a new standard that could help save millions of lives." If everyone would follow this I think there would be no more genocide.
Rwan Elsanhoury:
My group and I read the Survivor Story of Solomon Radasky. He is a Polish man married with two children. He was in the Warsaw Ghetto during the war which happens to be one of the most crowded ghettos during World War II. He talks about his whole family being killed in the concentration camps. One thing that really grabbed my attention was how he described how he saw the children being thrown into the crematorium. The way he described it was very clear I could just imagine it in my head. Another thing he said that grabbed my attention was he that he stated "I didn't know if I was at home or at a crematory lot." His entire survivor story took place in his hometown. So at his own "home" he and others were being tortured. I almost cried at the part when he said that the American soldiers came and told him that they were free and he couldn't believe it. His survivor story made me really upset and shocked. I couldn't believe the Nazi's were so brainwashed that they would do such crimes against humanity.
Kristen Pou: My group read about Solomon Radasky. He was born in Warsaw, Poland and spent his life during the war in the Warsaw Ghetto and concentration camps. The Warsaw ghetto was probably one of the most crowded ghettoes; Poland had a pretty large Jewish population. I don’t think I could picture the sights seen at the Warsaw ghetto or any concentration camp for that matter. The line in his survivor story, “...they hung you for any little thing” reminded me how easy it was to get killed for them. I wondered how they adjusted to being on their toes or scared all the time. It made me sort of sick that Jews were forced to cover up the murders of their own kind. The Nazi officers made them cover the ashes of the cremated or bury the dead in mass graves. If something like this happened here in the States, stopping it would be the top priority probably even in the midst of war. It kind of reminds me that genocides could so easily be hidden and “forgotten” It’s just a little hard to think that media pushes things that make them money up in our faces when conflict like genocide is being censored and hidden.
Michelle Bravo:
My group read about Soloman Radasky, his survivor story was both compelling and moving. Soloman had many near death experiences but luckily he was always saved at last minute. Soloman was seperated from his family from the start of the Holocaust, after that he never saw them again until he heard that his sister was in a concentration camp while he was making fur coats for the Germans. He risked his money and life to go to the concentration camp willingly in search for his sister but never found her. He was shot in the ankle and got it removed with no anesthesia, and a knife, the next day he was supposed tocontinue wit normally and walk about and avoid limping because if a Nazi Soldier saw that he was limping they would kill him. He was mistreated, tatood, tortured, shot, moved from a variety of concentration camps and was verbally abusHis ear near death experiences were when he was about to get hung for another Jew addicted to smoking lit a paper and smoked it, the Nazisoldier noticed and demanded to know who was smoking. No one wastalking so he rallied up 10 random Jews for execution but was interrupted by another soldier who needed to move Soloman to another camp and needed him alive. His other near death experience was when he was making fur coats for the Germans a Soldier was about to shoot him but a German told him not to because he was a good worker. I found it appalling how badly these people were treated and for no reason too. Genocide is a horrid thing to go through and Jews went thought it more than once. I didn't think the situation was as bad as Soloman had described in his story and he had to live through that. When he returnedmto Warsaw after everything blewmovernit was a ghost town. No one was around and almost all buildings had been turned to rubble.Nadia Espinoza:
My group read the story of Soloman Radasky . Many believe that the holocaust was a sad event in history which it was. But we would never get to feel or experience what survivors experienced. Soloman says that first he arrived at the ghetto he had found out that his mother and sister have both been killed , out of his whole family he was the only one that survived. What caught my attention was when he was shot on his ankle he could have been amputated but he was not, a doctor that was at the same camp that he was in helped him get rid of the bullet the doctor had no anesthesia and he told soloman to cope with the pain. When ever he was around a Nazi he had to avoid limping or else he would get out of the line and the Nazi would shoot him. He was also close to dying when a solider spotted that one of them had been smoking, the solider asked who it came from but no one answer so the solider decided to take 10 "dogs" and hang them until one of them spoke. Soloman was one of the 10 that had been called on. This and all the other events that Soloman went threw were sad and horrifying but reading his story makes ones emotions pour out but when one hears the person telling the story one then gets a sense of what happened and what emotions the person remembers when they revisit that moment. Hitler only did this because he believed that the Germans were the Aryan race. After that many jews, homosexuals, and gypsies were put to death. The Nuremberg trials sentenced formal Nazi soldiers to death for committing these crimes. As soon as all of this was over Soloman returned to his home town and said that warsaw was not the way that it used to be, everything was destroyed and many people were gone from their homes.
Saima Rehnuma:
The Holocaust like many believe, was an extrememely sad event. It was always known as the event that reigned over years of killing Jews, homesexuals, and those beside the Aryan race.The Nuremberg Laws became the chain reaction to the genocide of many deaths of Jews. It may seem that its over, but the stories of those that survived are yet to be known. My group and I read about Eva Galler, who was a survivor of such a tragic event. She was born in Poland on January 1, 1924. Like most of the families that were in the Holocaust, Eva and her family were a strong Jewish family. From reading her story, we learned that many like her had to fight and take chances to obtain their freedom and escape their death. She was part of the few that escaped the death train without being shot. Like all parents that want the best for their child, Eva's father sent her and her siblings saying "You the oldest three...Maybe somebody will survive, but we will stay here..." It was a action of love and affection that shook me and made me realize the sacrifices many familes had to do. Another part that affected me and stood out to me a lot was when Eva's brother Berele, was searching for crumbs of bread, when Eva brought bread home. It showed the struggles and torture the families locked in ghettos went through. Young kids like Berele, faced trouble and starvation, and led them to search for crumbs like Berele. Once reading this it reminded me of Anne Frank's diary that I read, that stated all her trouble and mischief she went throught to get food, although she was in hiding. The event of the Holocaust made me connect to the religious hate crimes that occurr between and against each religion even today. With this reading in mind, the genocide of many Jews reminded me of this quote by Jon Corzine that states " 'Never again' is the rallying cry for all who believe that mankind must speak out against genocide", and I believe it should be advocated and endorsed!
Ameera Khan :D
My group and I read about jeanine Burke's survivor story. We all thought it was very sad but at the same time we were all happy she escaped with her family. She was a hidden child that hid in this woman's house from ages 3-5. She was Belgium, which was not supposed to be involved in any kind of war. But Hitler didn't care what so ever and violated the Treaty of Versailles anyway. So Jeanine and her family had no option but to run away But they all lived in different places. In the end the good part was that they all united. They waited for her father to come but then in the end she realized that her father had died because the Germans had exterminated him with the acid gas in Aushwitz. Years later her mother had passed away from breast cancer and couldn't live with her siblings because she thought they didn't want her, since they were all married. Jeanine's childhood was very rough, but after all this violence, things started to get a lot better. It wasn't the same as having her own family, but its still satisfactory. She was adopted at the age of 10. This was when she came to the United States of America. During that age she even met the Labor Leader who has sponsored her and other holocaust survivors. Later on she got married, at a very young age. Her first marriage wasn't so decent because she had a divorce with her first marriage. Later on she married again to Maurice, who already had 4 children of his own. From her first marriage she had 2. In general I was feeling very happy for her because she was very lucky to get out of the situation and find a better place for herself. We all felt bad about what happened between and her family. But coming to the United States was worth it. After all this is a land of opportunities and she got back on track with it. Today she's in place where she's blessed with all these gifts after the bad things she went through in life. After reading this, I just had a very strong supportive feeling towards her because i was just very happy for her about what happened in the ending. If only the Nazis weren't that bad, then there would never be a place for hard times in her life!Stephanie Ramirez :D
Me and my group read a story about a person called Solomon Radasky. During war time he lived in warasaw and in concentration camps. While i was reading his story i was actually shocked because evrything that i actually saw in movies really did happen to people. Solomon had a very hard life. He lost his whole family during the holocaust. Solomon was also a very lucky man because if it wasnt for the guard he would've been dead. He was like, not even miinutes but seconds away of being hunged. Solomon had got through a lot in order to be where he is now with his wife and his two kids.While i was reading his story i was actually shocked because evrything that i actually saw in movies really did happen to people.I also felt really bad for what hitler made all the jews go through. Also i felt really proud, because Solomon kept having faith and that faith brought him to good things. While Solomon was at the concentration camp the jews would be caring and give each other a hand, just like when Salomon had gotten shot in his leg,and he was going back to his room a jew came up to him and told him that he was a docter and that he couldnt do much but he'll try to help him as much as he can. Atleast everyone was helpful to each other.
Alisa Metovic:
Today in class, my group and I read the survival memoir of Solomon Radasky. He was born in Warsaw, Poland, the most catastrophically damaged area through out the whole Holocaust. His story was very sad, because his life during wartime was spent in the Warsaw ghetto and in the concentration camps. The part that seemed the most emotional to me was where he talks about his family, and how he was quickly separated from his parents, two brothers and three sisters. Radasky explained that prisoners in the barracks would try to help each other as much as possible. He said, "As I lay in my bed, an older man asked me how I was. He said, 'I can help you.' He had been a doctor in Paris. He took a little pocket knife and operated on me." This, somewhat made his situation better to me, because it seemed as though when even away from your family, you can find people to treat you like you all really are. With in his description of his experience through out the Holocaust Genocide, Radasky reminded me of the Bosnian Genocide and what a connection the two had. The Bosnian Genocide (early '90's) was of Serbs attacking against Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), both being religious hate crimes. I was glad to read of Radasky's story because I know that as time goes on, fewer and fewer survivors will exist and that with the help of such websites I predict that future generations will still get to properly learn about the Holocaust and the tales it's survivors tell.
Mayar Mansy
Today, me and my group read Jeannine Burk's holocaust story. she's luckily one of the few survivors of the holocaust. Jeannine Burk was born in Brussels, Belgium on September 15, 1939. The story was sad but sort of nice at times. It was sad because her father got exterminated in Auschwitz and she was never allowed to have a father. Also, her mother later died because of breast cancer. But, the good thing is that her other members of the family survived as well. She went to America and got adopted. she was treated very nice, she got married and had kids later on ( =
Berevan TuranToday I read Jeannine Burk's holocaust story. My reaction was good and bad at the same time. The reason why my reaction was good is because most of her family survived. Also because it didn't take them a long time to find each other, they found each other right away. Another good reason is that she got a good job and was happily married.
Tatyana Noori-My reactions to the Holocaust true story was disgust mixed with sadness. I felt very horrible reading Solomon Radasky's story. When he mentioned seeing the kids being thrown into the crematorium alive all I could think was how can anybody be so heartless and cruel towards children. (NOT DONE)
Emily Xhaferi:)Today my group and I read Solomon Radasky's story. My reaction to that story was very horrible. In some parts of his story he explains how he almost died...TWICE. It was very sad. What i found amazing was how he remembered like every little thing that he went through and that happened. He remembered how big the train was and how he couldnt breathe on the train. He remembered how someone took his bread but he was too weak to run back after it. It really broke my heart ): What got to me the most was when he was explaining how he escaped once and he got caught. They lined him up with 10 other guys in front of a pit getting ready to shoot them. Soloman and a jewish doctor werent going to give up now, so they ran as fast as they could. He explains how it was running, he said he has never ran so fast before. He talks about how this random energy he had-just to run as far as he could. He couldn't feel his feet either, but he made it. Although his family were all murdered he looked for that one light of hope and for the first time, he stated he actually smiled. AWWWWWWWW
Mehak Mahmood: Me and my group decided to read Eva Galler's Survivor story. As we started reading the story we all had the same reaction,we were horrified and surprised but more towards shock of what the people had to go through to survive. Eva a Poland born escaped from the death train with her 2 other oldest siblings a brother and sister by the force of there parents thinking that they would escape but that didn't necessary happen. Other people were jumping off the small windows of the train so Eva and her siblings jumped off to but only Eva survived because the SS people were shooting from the roofs of the train and Eva luckliy didnt get shot. When I found out Eva's siblings were no more my reaction changed I was so surprised and so emotional at that point because I had pictured that scence in my brain and if I was Eva I dont know how I would have taken that news. When Eva was on the train her younger 3 year old brother was crying knowing that they wouldnt jump off with them .The younger child probably knew about what was going on but the parents took a risk and stayed with there other children. On the part that made me emotional the most was when Eva explains how she will never foget how her young brother was crying to come with her but she couldnt do anything about it and Eva could still hear her youngest brother screaming, "I want to live too." That touched me when I read it imaging a poor 3 year old who has done nothing is innocent and is soon being put to the test of death. I was really dissapointed and worried how people didnt care about other peoples feelings how there feelings ment nothing to them.Nothing that i write emphasizes how hurt i felt and how hurt my table felt while read the story and saying stuff like "Omg" and "I feel so sad for them." Eva and her family had to go through many obstacle and I feel really sad and dissapointed for that.
Samantha Fabrizi:
My group and I read about Eva Galler's holocaust story. My reaction towards it was horrible, I felt so bad for her. She explains everything she went through and it was so sad. I am happy that she survived when she had to jump from the train, but her brother and sister didn't make it. She had to go through a lot and it was really sad. She talked about how she lost one of her parents at a young age. Eva had a hard time dealing with her father because she had to force her dad to let her go to high school. I felt bad that when she found her brother and sister dead, she blamed it on the star she was wearing, and said to herself that she was never wearing it again. She talked about how a lot of gentile familes were afraid of being killed if they were to hide Jewish people. It's really sad to read about this because you think you have it bad, but then while you're reading you realize you have it really good. You don't have to jump out of a train window to save your life, knowing you might die because there were the SS people shooting on the roof... One thing that really got to me was when she mentioned that the Jews and non Jews did not mix very well, but only when it came to business. I also did not like it when I read that the gentile children didn't want anything to do with the Jewish people, it made me upset when i read that they called them names. Jewish people had a very hard tiime especially during Easter time. The gentiles would throw stones at the Jewish people because they all said that the Jewish people killed Christ. I feel really bad, she went through so much and it was at such a young age. She suffered a lot and it just wasnt fair. Even though somethings were good for her, majority of the time it was all bad, and my heart broke for her. I still can't imagine how she felt when she saw her brother and sister dead. I have no idea how I would feel if i were to see my brother and sisters dead..
Gisselle Flores:
I felt sad because the Jews struggled a lot during the holocaust. We know they suffered but once you read a survivors story you know that it really happened to them and it makes it even more sad. My group and I read the surviving story of Solomon Radasky. It was shocking to know that he had 78 people in his family and that out of all of his family he was the only one who survived. Solomon had 3 sisters, 3 brothers and both of his parents. They all got killed. His mom and sister got shot because the Germans were collecting jewlery and she didnt have any so they just shot her. What's even more sad about all of this is that he didnt even know when they got killed; "When I returned to the ghetto i found out that my mother and older sister had been killed". The Jews had to kill there own people if not they would be ones who would have to die. What I have found dumb all this time is that the Germans use the Jews as workers and at the end they end up killing them -_- Whats also sad about his story is that on July 22, 1942 the deportation started and he never saw anyone from his family again. The good thing about his story is that he ends up married on November 11, 1946. He also ends up having two kids so he has a family once again. He had a very sad story to tell but has a new happy family.
POST #2 ARMENIA/ CAMBODIA (Choose 1 question!!)
1) How did the Cambodian and Armenian genocides compare and contrast? What were some of the similarities and differences you found interesting between them?
2) Based on the videos on 3generations and the article you read about the Cambodian genocide, what were your reactions to the struggles of the Cambodian citizens under the Khmer Rouge? What shocked you about how they were treated and what their life was like during this time?
Gisselle Flores:
Both of the Cambodian and Armenian genocides had many people killed which is one way they were similar. In both genocides there were labor camps setup. They were also similar because they both targeted a specific group of people. In the Cambodian genocide Khmer Rouge targeted the Cambodians and in the Armenian genocide the Ottoman Empire targeted the Armenians. Both the Ottoman Empire and Khmer Rouge wanted to control everything which is why they started there genocides. They also almost had the same reason why they killed who they killed. The Ottoman Empire was Muslim and they killed the Armenians because they were Catholic. In the Cambodian genocide Khmer Rouge targeted all types of Cambodians. Even though they both killed for religious beliefs they had differences as well. In the Cambodian genocide Khmer Rouge did everything because he wanted to establish a communist model of Mao Ze Dong's China. In the Armenian genocide the Ottoman Empire attacked Armenia because they were supporting Russia who was the Ottomans Empire enemy during WW1. The way the genocides ended was also different. In the Cambodian genocide Khmer Rouge got distracted by the conflict between Cambodia and Vietnam which caused the genocide to stop. In the Armenian genocide the Armenians joined the USSR which caused the Ottoman Empire to stop attacking.
Mayar Mansy
1) The Cambodian and Armenian genocides occurred on different period of time. The Cambodian genocide happened about 53 years after Armenian genocide. They have some similarities and differences as well. A huge number of people died in both genocides. They both had religion issues and religion was one of the reasons for the genocides. Politics was also another reason for why both of these genocides happened. Even though these two genocides have many similarities but they ended in different ways. In the Cambodian genocide, Vietnam invades and pushes down the Khmer Rouge but in the Armenian genocide, Armenia joins the Soviet Union (which were the Turkish's enemies). Even though million of people were killed but the Turkish today denies that this genocide ever happened. In the Cambodian genocide people could be killed if they laughed, cried or wore glasses. This was very shocking and different from the Armenian genocide.
Alisa Metovic:1. The Armenian and Cambodian genocides were two that have both endless comparisons and contrasts due simply to the fact that they were both genocides. The Armenian genocide took place in Western Armenia (Turkish Armenia) where the Armenians were oppressed and victimized by the Ottoman Empire. Here, the Armenians were deported from their homes on forced death marches to Syria and Iraq where many of them died on the way there. Others, were quickly massacred. Similarly, in Cambodia, many citizens were murdered while under the ruthless Khmer Rouge rule. Both genocides involved religious tensions. In Armenia, the Ottomans expected many of the Christians to convert to Islam, much of them declined this and therefore were killed. In Cambodia, citizens were expected to become communists and deny religion, the mainly Buddhists Cambodians were not pleased. The two events also resulted in over two million casualties each. On the contrary, the two genocides had differences. The Armenian Genocide could be argued that it was just bad luck and irony. Armenia was/is between Turkish and Soviet/Russian lands, and as the two were at war, they used Armenia as a battlefield. Cambodia on the other hand was tortured by its own people (Khmer Rouge, lead by Pol Pot) who tried to model Cambodia after Mao Ze Dong's China. In Armenia, (Islamic) religion was attempted to be spread, whilst in Cambodia all forms of religion were being banned and all were suppose to be Communists.
Ameera Khan :D
One main thing that i can say is similar between this two genocides had to do with religion. In the Armenian genocide, the Turks (Ottoman Empire) killed the Armenians because they had a religious conflict. The Armenians were Christian while on the other hand the Turks were Muslim. They forced the Armenians to convert to Islam. They didn't care about the Armenians opinion what so ever. In the Cambodian genocide, Khmer Rouge (leader of Pol Pot) killed all the religious people, burned the churches and temples of Cambodia. They even targeted the monks and priests. Along with them, the other half of the population got killed. These two genocides can relate because during this event, all the victims were being placed in labor/concentration camps. The difference between these genocides are the reasons for why the victims were killed. Khmer Rouge killed the Cambodian citizens because he wanted to establish a communist society like Mao Ze Dheng's China. He wanted perfection no matter what! He went so far with the idea that he would kill people for the most harmless reasons. These reasons would be things like getting killed for showing any kind of emotion in public (i.e.- crying or laughing). Music and entertainment was banned. The country even provided a uniform for all the people! Of course, these were very hard to follow. So in the end, approximately 3.5 million people died! In the Armenian genocide, people were killed by the Turks because of how they were being Allies with Russia. The Turks were strictly against this because the Russians were their enemy and they could not tolerate how people living in their country would support them. When i saw the videos online, i think they were very sad because when the speakers were telling us about their horrible experience, they would start crying and making the audience realize the pain with them. They would also talk about their struggles and it was very touching. The good part about this was that they survived out of everything and are living a much better lifestyle, where they are safe, happier and secure. They don't have to live with the fear of being killed by an oppressor.
Yennifer Posada
Throughout history many genocides have happened. Two of the genocides that have happened are the Cambodian and Armenian genocides. The Cambodian and Armenian genocides are similar and different in many ways. The Armenian genocide took place in the Ottoman Empire (Turkish Armenia) during WWI (1915-1918). The Cambodian genocide happened in Cambodia in 1975-1979. These two genocides are similar because they are both genocides. These both genocides involved a lot of deaths. The Cambodian created labor camps just as the Armenian did. These labor camps were for work to get done. The both genocides had murders and destruction of their government. The both genocides also had religious involvement. Both genocides had over 1 million casualties that happened. The Armenian and Cambodian genocides both had similarities.
Even though these were two genocides, they both were different. It was different because the Cambodian wanted to be communist because Khmer Rouge(Pol Pot was the leader) was trying to get Cambodia to be a communist country. He was the person who started all the genocide in Cambodia. The victims ended up being Cambodian citizens and people against communism. Khmer Rouge was trying to establish a communist society like Mao Ze Dong's in China. Many religious groups were killed because a communist country doesn't believe in religion. On the other hand, the Armenian genocide was different from the Cambodian genocide. The Turks were Muslim and Armenians were Christian so the Turks were making everyone to convert to Islam. If you wouldn't convert religion you would be killed. The people of Armenian were deported and some would be run over by trucks. People were starved. Overall, the Cambodian genocide and Armenian genocide were similar and different in their own way.
Tatyana Noori:
The Cambodian and Armenian genocides can compare in many ways. In both places the citizens where being killed for unjust reasons. They were both being forced to choose a path they did not choose for themselves. Also religion and politics played a big role in both genocides. While in Armenia they were being forced to turn to Islam, Cambodians were being forced to leave religion. Ending very badly for the citizens who denied to do as they were told. Although both places had similarities the goals were different. In Cambodia the goal was to turn Cambodia into something that resembled Mao Ze Dong's China, but in Armenia the goal was to convert the people to Islam. Also in Cambodia they were being tortured by someone who was apart of their country (the Khmer Rouge). What similarities and differences I found interesting between both countries was how they were both being forced to choose between religions (and no religion) or death. The differences I found interesting was how they both had two completely different leaders but both inflicted so much damage in different ways. Something I found interesting about Pol Pot is how much he reminded me of Hitler. For example Hitler caused more damage then good to his country and people (even if they were Jewish and not considered a part of the country to Hitler). Pol Pot similar to Hitler thought he was changing the country for better instead he caused so many to suffer and die.
Mehak Mahmood Question number1:The Cambodian and Armenian genocides are both similar and different in many ways. The ways they were similar was that they both had religion conflict, they both believed that politics played a big role and, in both of the places many people had lost there lives .In Armenia the turkish(ottoman) wanted the people to convert to Islam since they were christian they did not except so they were put to death. In Cambodia a ruler named Khmer Rouge banned religion and so buddhist monks and christian missionaries were killed. As there were similarities they were differences among Armenia and Cambodia. One difference between them two was how they were tortured. In Cambodia people were sent to labor camps so there can be a mass execution of people in different groups. In Armenia people were sent to concentration camps, people were abandoned with no food/water, and women and children were kidnapped. As well when the Armenian turkish(ottoman) people did not except to convert they were tortured and then put to death. In Cambodia a ruler named Khmer Rouge killed many people and his excuse was that he wanted to create a communist utopia like Mao Ze Dong in China. Something similar I found interesting was that both leaders used dictorian power to rule either Cambodia or Armenia. And something different I found interesting was that they used different tactics to try to change people.
Saima Rehnuma (Question #1):The Cambodian and Armenian Genocides both have had their fare share of similarities and differences. The Armenian Genocide took place in Armenian Turkey, while the Ottoman Empire was ruling.This genocide carried from 1915- 1918, during WWI. The Cambodian genocide, however took place later on, around 1975-1979. To begin with the similarities, both these genocides held religious tensions between the victims of both these events. The Armenian Genocide, was focused on the Armenian's who lived in Turkey but were Christians compared to the majority of the Muslims. Because they were not Muslims, or did not turn Muslims they were deported, exiled, or killed. They were oppressed and that much tortured to the point that many were taken to labor camps (Hitler got his idea from this) and forced to do death marches where many died of starvation and torture. Similar to the religious conflict in Armenia, the Cambodian Genocide killed those that practiced religion. Buddhist monks and Muslims were killed because they practiced a religion and did not follow the communist aspects of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge whose leader was Pol Pot created a communist society inspired by Maoist China, and religion was an extra that to Pol Pot it was not needed. Like the Armenian Genocide those that opposed the rules and laws of Pol Pot's new government , were sent to labor and concentration camps where they were killed/ slaughtered. Both these genocides led to the death of millions of people.Regardless of the similarites of both genocides, both had diferences as well. The Armenian Genocide, could be said as being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Because the Armenian's were supporting Russia at this time, which was the Ottoman's enemy,they took it out on the Armenians. Not only was that the case but being Christian was not what the Ottoman's wanted, but a Muslim country. In the Cambodian Genocide, the main point of all this torture, was because Pol Pot wanted to reconstruct Cambodia like Mao Ze Dong's China.
Rwan Elsanhoury: The Cambodian and Armenian genocides have many similarities and differences. The Cambodian genocide took place from 1975 to 1979, while the Armenian genocide took place from 1915 to 1918 The Cambodian genocide existed only because the Khmer Rouge (leader Pol Pot) wanted to establish a strong communist society. While the Armenian genocide took place due to religious conflict between the Muslims (Ottoman Empire) and Christians (Armenia), also because Armenia was supporting Russia during World War II which was the Ottoman Empire's enemy. Cambodian Genocide killed all religious groups, children, the elderly, anyone that was educated and anyone that was anti-communist. Cambodia was very strict if you showed any sort of emotion you would be killed. Cambodia also established labor camps. The Ottoman Empire slaughtered and abandoned the Armenians in the deserts of Syria or Mesopotamia leaving them to starve to death. Both countries where very intimidating and vile. Both countries wanted to strengthen their country. Also both genocides resulted with many deaths. After the Cambodian genocide Cambodia became democratic. Also after the Armenian genocide Armenia joins the Soviet Union.
Jessica Toro
Based on the 3generations video and also the article I read about the Cambodian genocide, they went thru a lot of struggles and everything was horrific to hear. Living under Khmer Rouge was very scary and what is even sadder little kids had to go thru days without laughing, and crying because he believed that was wrong and you deserve to get killed for that. Everything you did had to be what Khmer Rouge agreed with if not you be killed. In the movie the guy that survived the Cambodian genocide was the only one in the family to survive. It was sad when he said he felt guilty because he was the only one to survive and that makes me very upset because I would hate to have the guilt inside me .I found it shocking that people weren’t allowed to wear glasses because it showed intelligence.
Kristen Pou: (Question 1:) I sometimes get the feeling that once there is a huge turning point like war, the downfall of a leader or empire, or a change in government, chaos often follows. This is true for both the Armenian Genocide and the Cambodian Genocide. Communism was just on the rise and this political power plays a part in both genocides but in slightly different ways. The Cambodian Genocide began due to the leader of the Khmer Rogue’s, Pol Pot’s, desire to convert Cambodia into the Communist Utopia to follow in the steps of Mao’s China. This caused the massacres of the educated, the religious officials and the anti-communists. In the Armenian Genocide, Communisms role was as a savior from further genocide. When Armenia made the sacrifice and became part of the USSR, they ensured safety for themselves. Rather than causing the genocide like in the Cambodian Genocide, Communism helped to end the genocide in Armenia. In both genocides, religion and religious differences also had a role. In Cambodia, Pol Pot strived to create a communist state. Therefore, there had to be no religion at all. So killing religious groups, monks, priests, and missionaries and burning temples and churches helped his cause but helped create the genocide. In Armenia, Ottoman Turkey was determined to make Armenia Muslim. The violence was aimed at Armenian Christians. In both genocides, labor camps and concentration camps were also methods used. Cambodians and Armenians were forced from their homes.
There was also some differences in aspects of the Armenian Genocide and Cambodian Genocide. For example, The genocide in Armenia was carried out by an outside threat, Ottoman Turkey, while the genocide in Cambodia was somewhat like an internal conflict. Armenia was literally in the middle of a rivalry between two empires much stronger and bigger than it, Russia and Turkey. Armenia was separated between the two and although both empires were afraid of Armenians uprising, Turkey was the one to act on their fear and begin the genocide. In Cambodian, Pol Pot was in Cambodia and carried out the genocide in Cambodia with Cambodian pro-communists. Another difference was in the ends. Genocide in Cambodia was disrupted by conflict between Cambodia and Vietnam. In Armenia, as stated before, Armenia joined the USSR and was somewhat protected from Turkey. But even today, Turkey denies the genocide. One huge difference in method was in how Turkey carried out massacres. They called it deportation. They deported Armenians by foot into the Syrian and Mesopotamian deserts and left them there to die. In Cambodia, you were killed for doing anything out of the stoic uniformity.
Berevan Turan (Question #1: The Armenian Genocide and Cambodian Genocide have similarities and differences. The Armenian Genocide occurred during WWI from 1915-1918. However, the Cambodian Genocide took place in the Vietnam War during 1975-1979. Pol Pot, leader of Khmer Rouge, wanted to establish a communist country like Mao Ze Dong's China. Since they wanted a communist country, Pol Pot killed all religious groups, burned churches and temples and targeted monks and priests. Also he killed the killed kids, old people, people who were against communism and educated people. The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) wanted all the Armenian Christians who lived in Turkey to convert to Islam. Another reason why the Armenian Genocide occurred is because the Armenians were supporting Russia meanwhile Russia was Turkey's enemy during WWI. The method of the Turks to solve their religious conflicts was to deport, exile, slaughter, abduct, torture, and massacre the Armenians. They also abandoned the Armenians in the deserts of Syria/Mesopotamia. However, both Genocides had many similarities. One similarity was that both Genocides involved religious conflict. The fact that they were both genocides and both genocides have caused the death of many people were also similarities. Also both genocides involved working in labor camps and both were the killing of certain people. For example, the Armenian Genocide was the killing of only Armenian Turks and the Cambodian Genocide involved the killing of people who went against the Khmer Rouge. Both genocides were horrific and brutal.
Samantha Fabrizi:
There weren't many similarities between the two genocides, but one thing they had in common was religion. In the Armenian genocide, the Turks killed the Armenians because of the religious conflict. The reason for this religious conflict was the Armenians were Christians and the Turks were Muslim, the Turks wanted the Armenians to convert to Islam. Now in the Cambodian genocide, Khmer Rouge, killed those against communist, Cambodian aspects, abolished all civil and political rights. He also banned religion. Khmer Rouge also killed all religious people and burned down temples and churches in Cambodia. Another similarity between both genocides were all victims were being places in concentration camps. Now the differences between both genocides were in Cambodia, many people were being forced to avoid music and any type of entertainment. If they laughed, cried, knew another language, or wore glasses they were killed. Honestly to me, that makes no sense. What if they needed glasses? Were they just supposed to walk around blind? The Armenian genocide, the Armenians were supporting Russia, who was the Ottoman Empires ( the Turks ) enemy during WWI. The women and children in Armenia were both abducted and horribly abused. Armenian people were subjected to deportation, expropriation, abduction, torture, massacre, and starvation. Armenia joined the USSR, and over one million people died. To this day, Turkey refuses to apologize for the genocide and denies it even happened! After I watched the videos, I realized how much all these people had to suffer. It was so sad watching them during the interview because they started shaking, and crying so much. You realized that they didn't have it east at all. After they finished, you knew that everything they went through made them stronger because they would smile at the end, and you just knew that they were happy and out of fear.
Post #3 – Rwanda
What were your reactions to the learning about the Rwandan genocide today? Which survivor story we watched or read stuck out to you the most and why?
*** If you would like to watch the videos again here are the links :)
3generations: For Ann Marie, Patrick and Freddy's stories
Schooltube: For Frederick's Story
History.com: For historical background
Alisa Metovic- Learning about the Rwandan genocide shocked me in class, mainly because I didn't even know it existed. At first, I was more in shock than saddened to find out that with in 100 day period, the Hutu's had managed to kill 1.2 million people. How is it even possible to kill 400 people with in an hour? Upon learning about how the Belgians contributed to this, I was even more annoyed. I feel that they had a great deal of responsibility for causing the genocide. Decades ago when they first settled in Rwanda, the Belgians tried to distinguish the Tutsi's from the Hutu's and adding more tension to the already existing tension amongst the two groups. The Europeans built up the confidence and power of the Tutsi's and this angered the Hutu's enough to rebel and desire revenge. Ann Marie's survivor story was one that stuck out to me the most. She was unfortunately registered a Tutsi, when in actuality she was a Hutu. The fact that she lost both her husband and son made her story seem even more realistic and tragic.
Gisselle Flores:
I thought that the Rwandan genocide was sad and crazy like any other war and genocide. It was also crazy how many people died especially how fast they died. I also thought that it was wrong how other countries didn't do much about this problem. About 400 people were dying per hour and other countries didn't do anything. The story that struck out to me the most was Valentina's story. This was the saddest story out of all because she was only 14years old and she lost her mom and aside from that she lost her fingers. The reporter saw Valentina at the beginning as a skinny girl who was going to die. But then three years later he went back and found out that she alive and when he saw her again he says that she looked better than before. This story also stood out to me the most because of the way she survived. Valentina had to lay next to all the dead bodies and what was worst is that she pretended to be dead next to her mom who was dead. Then she says that the dogs were eating all of the dead bodies. This story was mostly the saddest because she still dreams about her mom and when she wakes up she remembers that her mom is dead.
Samantha Fabrizi:To be honest, I had no idea that the Rwandan Genocide even existed. Learning about all the things that happened during that time really upset me. The amount of people killed during the amount of time this happened is unbelievable. 400 people within an hour it really bothered me. I hate how even though countries knew that this was happening, they did absolutely nothing about it! How could they just sit around and act like nothing is going on? For example, the story we read about Valentina really bothered me because she was so young while it was going on and she had to lay next to the dead bodies to protect herself, and she was laying next to her mother, who was dead. She went through so much, and you would think countries would try to help out. Another story that stood out to me was Ann Marie's. She went through so much it's unbelievable. I can't believe that they killed her son right in front of her.. It's heartbreaking. No mother would ever want to witness that. Even though i'm only 16, I would be so heartbroken if I saw that happen to any child. It really got me upset when she said that she was being raped, man after man, and she wanted someone to kill her. Her life was so bad that she wanted to die. I felt bad that she never saw her husband again... After she talked about everything she went through, and mentioned she went into a home with a group of people to find her identity, she said at the end that she's happy. I really made me feel good, because after everything she went though she made it, and now she's a very strong women.
Tatyana Noori-
After learning about the Rwandan genocide I was left shocked. The Rwandan genocide happened in 1994 only two years before I was born. TWO YEARS!!! When Jen said we would be learning about the Rwandan genocide I was expecting to learn about something that happened 100 years ago or 50 years ago at the very least, but this was not long ago at all. When we heard all the survivor stories I couldn't believe what they were saying. I couldn't believe anyone could be so heartless and cruel and kill innocent children and rape women because they thought they were "saving them". More than 1 million people died in 100 days. Thats 400 people in an hour. The story that really stuck out to me was Frederick's story. I thought he was really brave to say no to the soldiers when they told him to kill all those people. He told them to kill him instead. They then started to kill everyone around him and as a punishment chopped off his hands. Not only is having to live with the memories of seeing people die and experiencing it first hand he had to live without his hands and he didnt even act like his life was over he kept his head high and chin up and kept living life. I couldnt belive what an amazing painter he turned out to be. I though he was an inspiration to people who think even when you go through the worst of things you can still be happy.
Ameera Khan:
The Rwandan genocide was very upsetting and disturbing. In every other genocide that I learned about, it was only about killing the person right there. But in the Rwandan genocide, the killers would torture the people before they even killed them which made them go through a painful death! It was literally like a living hell on Earth. I couldn't take it or hear anymore when I read about things like getting someone's hand off by a machete. Killing someone by hurting them like that is something I can't even imagine! People randomly killing someone just makes the person feel scared all the time. When I read about Valentina's story, I was this close to breaking down! Many girls and others have gone through the same. Raping and kidnapping was even worse. I wanted to punch Bagaruka when I read about the stuff he would make people do. It's really sad how a man who has a family of his own would make other people kill innocent people who belong to other families. The video that stood out to me from the G3NERATIONS site was "Ann Marie". I think I was really able to understand her pain because I am a female too and I would know what kind of feelings a woman would go through if anyone was in her position. From seeing her own son get stabbed while he's in her arms, to being used as many people's prostitutes, and never seeing her husband ever again is a very serious thing. I also wanted to cry and break down when I heard that she got infected from HIV/AIDS seriously. Although I became very happy to hear that today she is alive and having her son support her through everything. It's also a very great thing to see that she is being treated for her illness so her life can become a bit easier than before! If I would ever think my life sucks, I think I'm most likely going to think about this video and her story. This will definitely make me think twice. She will also be an inspiration to me because of the fact that she's still walking towards in life, even after she's been through so much.
Rwan Elsanhoury:The Rwandan genocide was a very disturbing and shocking genocide. I was shocked mostly by was that it only took place in 100 days yet there was 1.2 million deaths. When the Belgians were in charge the Hutu were treated badly and the Tutsi were favored. The Hutu were upset about it. That doesn't mean that once they take control in government that they should torture the Tutsi, fighting fire with fire doesn't cause anything but a bigger fire. Another thing that shocked me was that the fact other countries knew this was going on but did absolutely nothing about it. The Rwanda Patriotic Front were the heroes of this genocide. Also knowing that this only happened two years before I was born is shocking. The cause of this genocide all the Belgians fault if they hadn't treated the Hutu badly then the Hutu would have never started the genocide. The survivor story that stock out to me the most was Ann Marie's. She lost her son and husband who she was in love with in the genocide. Also she was registered as Tutsi when she was really a Hutu, she could have been killed but she was extremely lucky. Just hearing about it made me want to cry.
Saima Rehnuma:
The Rwandan Genocide was very tragic and disturbing. If there's one word to describe how I felt when I learned about the killing of 1.2 million Tutsi's in 100 days, it is gob-smacked. Learning that the Hutu's took revenge out on the Tutsi because the Tutsi's were favored during the reign of the Belgians upset me, yet it allows me to get a different P.O.V. of what the Hutu's must've felt when they were treated badly by the Belgians. It's shocking to know that much of the disaster and killing of this genocide was because of the actions of the Belgians. The display of favoritism towards the Tutsi's because of their appearance (ex: the size of their nose) and them being the superior race angered the Hutu's to create a internal hatred towards the Tutsi's. The thought of killing so many people in such little time is just scary. This genocide shows the brutal conditions of genocides and how traumatic it is. Ann Marie's story stood out to me the most. Because she stated she was a Tutsi, although she wasn't, she received cruel treatment. She had go through pain and abuse by the Hutu's for no reason. It makes me think that if she had only stated she was Hutu she would've been saved from the abuse and sexual assaults. After hearing that she was raped by Hutu guys one after another, made me want to put those Hutu guys in jail. It was devastating to know she got HIV/AIDS, but at the end it was good to know she survived the genocide.
Yennifer Posada
Throughout history many genocides have occurred. The Cambodian, Armenina, Bosnia and Holocaust have occurred. These are the common ones that we learn about, but I never knew there was a Rwanda genocide. When I learned about another genocide I was shocked,sad and angry that this had happened. I never knew that killers could kill so many people in 100 days! It is like they had fun killing people! The Rwanda genocide happened over 100 days because the Hutu’s were torturing, raping and forcing relocation of Tutsi people. Race didn’t matter, it just mattered what group you were in. The Hutu people killed 1.2 million Tutsi people in 100 days! It was as if they were killing 400 Tutsi people an hour. When I was copying this down from the board I was shocked because how could people be so cruel and kill that many people. I was sad because infants were now orphans and there was murder like if it was allowed that shouldn’t have never happened in the first place. I was angry that the Hutu people raped the remaining women and gave them diseases like HIV.This affected many women and killed many woman's souls and dreams. Jack Schwartz said,“Genocide is an attempt to exterminate people, not to alter their behavior.” I agree with Jack because genocides that happen are to exterminate and get rid of people not to change their behavior. The story that struck to me the most was Ann Marie’s story. It struck out to me the most because Ann was registered as a Tutsi when she was really a Hutu. The Hutu killed her husband and her son. Also, the fact that she was raped almost by every Hutu men that passed by where she was. It sucks that she had to suffer so much just because of the group that she was. She has HIV/Aids and wasn’t getting treated until she did the interview. She had another son and loves him to death. The fact that she survived after all she went through is a miracle.
The story that stuck out to me the most was Fredrick's story because he has no family left and he is disabled from all the damage the people did to his village and people .The reason I say this because he also said he rather had not lived throughout everything that happened to him .The people that did all the damage also killed many other people daily is wasn't just one village at a time it was several families being hurt and to make the people suffer kids were left orphaned and alone these kids only survived because they would hide under the dead to not be killed coldblooded kids were bashed head to head women were raped and or just shot all families were unsafe .The genocide wasn't stopped until much later because no countries wanted to get involved once things got worse many more soldiers were sent to stop the killings off the people and once it was stopped many people were still very afraid of the people who did the damage to them .Once the years passed by people still remember the cruel coldblooded killings of the people and off their families .
Nashly Torres :)
Mayar Mansy
The Rwandan genocide that we learned about shocked me so much. I had no idea people were that violent and so heartless. The Hutu killed 1.2 million people in only 100 days ! They were torturing and raping the Tutsi. The story that stuck out to me the most was Anne-Marie's story. It's really sad how her husband died and they killed her son in front of her eyes. Not only did they do that, but she was also raped by a guard and later on the interhamwe came and took turns raping her. This is very horrible how they literally used this woman as a sex object ! After getting her blood checked, she found out that she has HIV/AIDS. So, the genocide effected her in many ways. It took away her family, humiliated her and also affected her health. She's not going to be able to live for so long and take care of her other son but at least she's one of the very lucky survivors of the Rwandan genocide.
Emily Xhaferi:)
The Rwandan Genocide that we learned about that day was very disturbing and very sad. 1.2 million Tsutsis were killed in the amount of 100 days.It's horrible knowing that the Hutus did this to the tsutis just because they werew favored by the Beligians. It really sucks knowing that other countries around the world knew about this huge conflict but didn't do anything to resolve it, to me it just seems like they didn't care. The story that stuck out to me the most was (I forgot his name but it was the guy without hands) yeah, that stuck out to me because i remember in one of the scenes a soldier asked him to kill all of these people, he didn't care if he was going to die that second. He said "no" because he doesn't want to be titled a "Murderer" like those cruel people were. He was threatened saying that they will cut off his hands... And what they did he explained was cut off his hands with a machete knife. However seeing how he was doing today really did bring a tear to my eye because he loves playing volleyball and painting. He paints amazing pictures without his hands! I can't even draw a stick figure WITH HANDS. It makes me happy knowing how these survivors saved themselves with the little hope they have. This happened two years before I was born. I honestly did not know what this was until we learned about it in class. It's crazy to see countries not helping eachother out. That's just horrible.
Mehak Mahmood:
My reaction toward the Rwanda Genocide was that Iwas really shocked and surprised. I was amazed how basically the Hutus seeked revenge from the Tutsis because the Belgians favored them more. What happend to the poor 1.2 million people who died will never be fogoten. The survivour story that stood out to me the most was Ann Marie's. Her story stood out to me the most because she had a husband was living happily with a baby in her stomach and the Hutus just snatched it away from her. Her life for her was flawless with her incoming baby and husband who owned a beer store. When Ann Marrie went to primary school she didnt know what she was wheather it was a Hutu or Tutsi her friends were mostly Tutsi so she stood with them. Poor Ann Marie didnt know what was coming to her she was then put as a Tutsi so the genocides came took her husband and killed her incoming baby. Ann Marie was then used as an sex object. When she was digging her own grave officals came and claimed her as a Hutu instead of a Tutsi. Her life went to know where. What stook out to me the most was that she wasnt living for no one but was living for her son and her son only. If I was Ann Marie I would do the same, live for my child. I think she was a very brave women who went through alot.
Kristen Pou: I knew that there was a Rwandan Genocide but no one ever bothered to tell me what exactly it was about. I was kind of expecting something like what we learned the Rwandan Genocide actually was. But I was still really shocked. I think the biggest hit was the realization that the Tutsi people were attacked and murdered by their own neighbors, the Hutus. The Tutsi people would see the Hutu people everyday, probably acting completely civil and probably occasionally smiling at them, and before the could comprehend the reality of the situation they were being attacked by them. The amount of time it took to carry out the genocide also shocked and almost disgusted me. 1.2 million deaths may not be as dramatic as 6 million deaths by Hitler or even the at least 20 million deaths under Stalin, when that statistic is put with the 100 days that the genocide spanned, it’s pretty disgustingly amazing.
I think the survivor story that shocked me the most was Ann Marie’s. It’s just incredibly heart breaking to hear about a woman’s child being murdered before her eyes. I know it happens in times of war and genocide but for some reason, when a story like that is given a face and a voice it’s just all the more heart-wrenching.
Berevan Turan:
The Rwandan Genocide we learned about in class today gave me a surprised reaction. It surprised me because it was crazy how 1.2 million Tutsis were killed by the Hutus in a 100 day time period. The Hutus killed them because when the Belgians came to Rwanda they treated the Tutsis good but treated the Hutus very badly. So when the Belgians left, the Hutus started a genocide to get their revenge back. Bagaruka was one of the Hutus the killed Tutsis and what surprised me was that he had a family of his own. The survivor story that stood out to me the most was Ann Marie's story. This story stood out the most because I can't believe that her baby got stabbed by the Hutus while she was holding him. The thing that shocked me the most was that she was identified as a Tutsi but she was actually a Hutu. So she basically wasn't supposed to be treated the way she was treated. Ann Marie was rapped by many Hutu men and when she was tested for HIV/AIDS the results were positive. I wonder how her life would of been right now if she wasn't identified as Tutsi. I honestly don't know how she could live her life going through all this that happened to her.
Jessica Toro
The Rwandan genocide was one of the worst genocide like any other. The genocide took 100 days but it seemed like it was forever because a lot of deaths occurred. It was shocking to hear that in one hour 400 people were killed. It all started because of Belgians treating the Tutsi better and treating the Hutu really poorly. When the Hutus took over they went against the Tutsi and treated them badly and killed them however they could. It got me really mad when the other countries knew what was happening but they did nothing to help. The story that stood out to me was the story of Frederick because he was sent to kill a person he decided that was wrong and said to kill him. But they didn’t do that they told him to stick out his hand and they would chop them his fingers off and that is what happened. It’s amazing how he does art work and is able to play volleyball.
POST #4 BOSNIAN GENOCIDE: What made the Bosnian genocide different and or similar from the other genocides we have learned about so far? What stuck out to you from our survivor story of the day? Also feel free to check out this great documentary on the Bosnian genocide for more information "A Cry from the Grave"
Alisa Metović: The Bosnian genocide is one that is both similar and different from to other genocides we've learned about so far. For starters, like the Holocaust, it involved/was based upon religious hatred. In Germany, the Nazi's hated the Jews, while in Bosnia, the Serbs hated the Bosnian Muslims. Like all the other genocides we've learned about, this one also took place in the Western Hemisphere and had a great amount of casualties. Similarly to the Cambodian genocide where the US interfered, America did the same, and Bill Clinton carried out his promise of creating peace between the Serbs and Bosnians by creating a peace accord. On the other hand, unlike the other genocides, one of the major causes of the Serbs oppression of the Bosnians was that there had been prior religious tensions. Likewise, both Serbia and Bosnia has been "untied under one brotherhood...Yugolsavia" as Marshal Tito (Yugoslav leader) has stated. In the end, it seemed as one brother being victimized by the other. On thing that stuck out to me from watching the survivor story, was the Srebrenica Massacre. I felt that it was too much like Nazi Germanys invasion of Poland showing history being repeated and how it shouldn't be repeated. Another thing was how involved the UN was with helping Bosnia, this is how the League of Nations should have helped the Jews during the Holocaust. At the end of the day, watching the video and learning more about the genocide made me feel like a Jew watching "Schindlers List". Feeling bad for ones own and being helpless.
Ameera Khan:I think all the genocides can relate to the Bosnian Genocide by sharing differences and similarities. The similarity between the Bosnian and other genocides is that they all dealt with religion and identity. The Holocaust, Cambodian, Armenian and Rwandan genocide dealt with this. The Rwandan wasn't really an actual religion based genocide, but was based on if you were a Tutsi or Hutu (identity). In the Bosnian genocide, problems took place because the Serbs (Orthodox Christians) wanted to make the Muslims of Bosnia convert into Orthodox Christian. The difference was that in the Bosnian Genocide, they had a "safe zone" opened up for the victims. There wasn't really any kind of zone in the other genocides. Even if the genocide came into an end, the oppressors would stop and give up with the torturing. In the Bosnian Genocide, it was much a different story. The genocide took place in the first place because of religion differences and the fact that the Serbs weren't happy that Bosnia declared it self independent. In April 22, the U.S. and European community wanted to identify the independence of Bosnia. Milosevic reacted to Bosnia's independence by just straight up attacking Sarajevo. To try to put a halt to this, a "safe zone" was opened up. Usually when a person sees/hears the word safe, they're supposed to feel happy and secured. But that was not the case here. Even after the people were placed in the "safe zone", they'd still get attacks from the Serbs from a distant shooting. The shocking part is that this all happened even though the U.N. was guarding the zone. (This is what made the Bosnian Genocide different). The thing that stuck out to me from the survivor story was how that lady buried her son in a forest/garden (I forgot what it was :/). Even after surviving she could've buried him in a graveyard. But I guess she wanted to do that after she found out who actually murdered her son and that would finally make her satisfied.
Gisselle Flores:What was similar in the Bosnian genocide like the others is that there were many innocent people who died. There was also a target and an oppressor just like all the other genocides. In this case the victims were the Bosnian's and the oppressors were the Serbians. The cause of this genocide was the same as the Armenian genocide, religious problems. In the Bosnian genocide the Serbians were orthodox christian and the Bosnian's were Muslim. There was religious unresolved tensions between them and the Serbs were angry that Bosnia declared itself independent. What was different is that this genocide was mostly filmed by people. This was 1995 and there was video cameras, technology started to advance more and more and so there was people who recorded the genocide. Now the Serbs cant deny that any of this never happened like the Turks did, they haven't admitted that the Armenian genocide occurred. What was also different about this genocide is that there was a safe zone in the middle of the war. There was no other "safe" zone in any other genocide. What stuck out to me about the survivor we watched is that the lady buried her own son and no one knows that hes buried there because there's no sign. Also that the father was calling his own son to come to him because that's what the Serbs were ordering him to do. The Serbs wanted the family's together to then kill them anyways. What was sad is that there was so many bodies that were unidentified and just kept in an underground tunnel hallway thing. The bodies were just there stacked in rows.
Tatyana Noori-The Bosnian genocide was similar to the other genocides we learned about. It was similar because of one of the most obvious reasons, many people died and many were killed. The Bosnian genocide also reminded me of the Rwandan genocide. It reminded me of the Rwandan genocide because in the Rwandan genocide the Hutus people were killing the Tutsi people and they both resided in the same country. In the Bosnian genocide the Serbians resided in the same country as the Bosnian muslims. Yet despite the fact they both lived in the same country they were targeted and labeled as the enemy. Another thing that reminded me of the Rwandan genocide was when one of the fathers was calling his son to come out because thats what the serbians told him to do. In the Rwandan video one woman had to watch her son die because the soilder told her to bring out her son. What stuck out to me from the survivor stories we watched in class was, the woman who had buried her son and no one knew about him being buried there. It stuck out to me because when she was at his grave she kept crying and saying you don't deserve to be buried in the thorns and it made me feel very sad. My first thought was no one deserves to be buried that way. It made me think about how every time someone goes to visit a family member at their grave its quiet peaceful and there is a tombstone indicating who that person is making it easier to the people who knew him/her to pay their respects. Someone who happens to pass by her sons grave won't even know that he is buried their and people wont be able to get to visit him because they probably won't be able to find his burial spot.\
Rwan Elsanhoury: The Bosnian genocide has many similarities and differences with other genocides. The Bosnian genocide was caused because there was an unsolved feud between the Bosnian who were mainly Muslims and the Serbians which were mainly Orthodox Christian. Also the Serbs were angry that Bosnia claimed itself independent. These two religions were not able to get along at all. The President of Bosnia stated," Serbs and Muslims are like cats and dogs . They cannot live together in peace." Another genocide that happened because of religious differences was the Holocaust. The Nazis during the Holocaust were targeting the Jews. Also like all genocides that had happened there were many rapes, killings, and refugees. The Bosnian genocide was resolved with the help of the U.S. President Bill Clinton worked with NATO to help set a peace agreement with Serbia and Bosnia. The Armenian genocide was also resolved with the help of another country. Armenia joins the USSR and that helps end the genocide. Although the Rwandan genocide didn't receive any help from anyone. The Rwandans had to fight this battle on their own. The Bosnian genocide didn't have as many deaths as other genocides. In Selena's survivor story she lost many friends and many members of her extended family. What stuck out to me the most was that she has the only survivor story that I heard/read that still had her close relatives (mom, dad, siblings). She was lucky enough to escape to a refugee camp in Hungary and then be able to come to the U.S. Her story is very unique in that sense where that not many people get to survive/escape with their whole family.
This genocide is both similar and different because the us only had u.n soldiers and no one wanted to get involved so they wouldn't have enemies and or people that could possibly hurt them in any way that meant war and many countries losing their soldiers and or lives .It was also very different because the Serbs only targeted certain people not just anybody it meant that they were only out for specific people who weren't listening to what they had to say .I mean Hitler also went out to only the Jews yes he had one specific group he was out to kill but he killed way many more men ,children and women than the Serbs .The problem in Bosnia was a big one but, until people took notice many people would die everyday to be exact 400 people were killed daily . To resolve this Former president Bill Clinton had to take action and have the help of the NATO to help the war between the Serbs and Bosnians to stop .In the survivor story we watched something that really stuck out to me was the fact that this lady had all her family killed and was left all alone .She was able to survive and have a happy and healthy life but she is still very traumatized of her horrible past i mean having a war between groups and you being the side they hate must be awful .Once she might have noticed her whole family was killed she probably felt very alone and scared because she no longer had anyone she could depend on or anyone to help her in her time of need . - Nashly torres :) :D
Mayar Mansy: The Bosnian genocide was similar but also a little different from the other genocides that we learned about. This genocide was based more on religion since the Serbs were against the Muslim Bosnians. This can relate to the Holocaust because Adolf Hitler was anti-Semitic (hatred for Jews). All of the genocides have a major similarity though which is the numbers of innocent people that were killed. Another similarity was that women got rapped in the Bosnian genocide and also the Rwandan genocide. Some of the genocides were ending differently. The Bosnian genocide ended by the help of the U.S president at the time which was Bill Clinton by working with NATO to make a peace agreement with Serbia & Bosnia. The Cambodian genocide on the other hand ended by Vietnam invading and pushing down the Khmer Rouge. What stuck to me while watching the video was how Selena buried her son in a garden and no one knew that he was buried there. She cried so much because she thought her son did not deserve to die and get buried this way. I also think that no one deserves to be buried like that. I felt very bad for her and all the other mothers that lost their kids/family.
Jessica Toro
The Bosnian genocide has similarities and differences with the other genocides we have learned in class. The Bosnian genocide was based on religion trying to convert Bosnian Muslims into orthodox Christian. I think it’s not right to try to convert people to a religion that you think its right. But the Serbs were mad that the Bosnians declared their independence and free from their Serbs. This genocide reminded me of the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust because both genocides were going against religion. But the difference was that Bosnian genocide received help from Bill Clinton signing a peace treatment between the Bosnians and the Serbs. The U.N got involved and tried to stop the genocide but they were not allowed to really do anything to not start another war. In the movie the shocking part was when the women buried her own child and when she says you don’t deserve to be buried with thorns I imagine all the people that step on it and not know there is a kid buried there.
Emily Xhaferi
The Bosnian Genocide does have similarities and differences with all the other genocides we have talked/learned about in class. This Genocide was more different because it was based mostly on Religion. Basically trying to convert Muslims into Christian, or Orthodox. The similarities were all the innocent people that died. The Bosnian Genocide also reminded me mostly of the Rwandan Genocide because in the Rwandan genocide the hutu's and the tsuti's where fighting against each other and killing each other although they both live in the same country, So I can relate the Bosnian Genocide to the Rwandan genocide in a way. The survivor story that stuck out to me the most was the women from "A cry from the grave". The women who's son was killed and she buried him somewhere in the woods. That stuck out to me the most because I find that so crazy. How a mother has to bury her own son and she still hasn't found the remains of her husband. That part really got me sad. Well i mean the whole Documentary got me sad but her story hurts the most. And I can understand what she was saying in some parts because since I'm from Albania we also know other languages from the countries around us. It feels kind of weird to me though because this is all happening right next to my country, well "former Yugoslavia". I was also very sad because her husbands name is Ramo and that's my dads name, and i just kept thinking about what if i was in a position like that with my family ): I'm so thankful for where I am today and very happy to still have survivors from these genocides to tell us their stories.
Mehak Mahmood:
The Bosnia Genocide was both similar and different from the other genocide we had disscussed in class. The Bosnia genocide was similar to the Armenian genocide which was that they both had religious conflicts. The Bosnia genocide had targeted there people in cruel ways for example, shooting, rapes, and mass destruction,just as the other genocides did. They all had their own opppressors and own leaders who started the genocide tension. They killed many innocent people which leaded to a less population in their government. Another similarity was that Bill Clinton interfered in the Bosnian genocide by signing a peace agreement and in Cambodia the U.S. interfered. The Bosnia genocide was similar and they were different to. The Bosnian were different because they had a different oppressor, diffrent leader, difference in destruction as in destruction of Mosques, and the Bosnian declared their independence rather then the other genocides which had a different story. During the Bosnian genocide there were very few survivors.One survivor story was Selena. Selena lost many of her friends and members of her extended family. What stood out to me the most was that this was the only survivor story that I read that still had her parents and siblings alive.
Nadia Espinoza : The Bosnian genocide was both different and similar at the same time. During the Bosnian genocide the Serbians were orthodox christian and they were the oppressors who killed Muslims in Bosnia, because the Serbians wanted the Muslims to convert to christianity. During the Bosnian genocide there was this place called the safe spot where some Muslims would get saved. During other genocides most of them did not have a spot where most of them would be saved. President Bill Clinton said that he was going to do something and he worked with NATO to help setup a peace agreement between Serbia and Bosnia. A small group from the United Nations was sent to guard the “safe zone”. While the UN was guarding the safe zone 8,000 men were slaughtered. The genocides were the same in the way that many people die.
Samantha Fabrizi:The Bosnian genocide has both similarities and differences with the other genocides we've discussed. The Bosnian genocide had more differences mainly because it mostly talked about religion. From reading the story in class, I learned that oppressors were the Serbians who were Orthodox Christians. The Serbians made the Muslims their target and killed them because they wanted the Muslims to convert to Christianity. This reminds me of the Armenian and Cambodian genocide because there was religious conflicts in both genocides. Another similarity between all the genocides were a numerous amount of innocent people were killed. One difference between the Bosnian genocide and the Rwandan genocide was in the Bosnian genocide people interfered and did something about it! But in the Rwandan genocide the US and other governments around the country knew about it and did nothing about it! Another difference would be, even though it ended with a lot of innocent people dying because they were Muslim, it ended with Pres. Bill Clinton working with NATO help set up a peace agreement between Serbia and Bosnia. The survivor story, stuck out a lot to me because the women's son was killed and she buried him somewhere in the woods, and she would always go and visit him. I give her a lot of courage because it must be so hard to bury your own child. It upset me when they mentioned that she hasn't found the remains of her husband yet. I don't know how she feels but I know our family friend does. Her daughter died on 9/11 and they didn't find any of her remains so she's not buried anywhere, and her husband passed away a year ago, and she visits him all the time. It just makes me sad that people actually have to go through that and bury their own child or loved one. I hope I never ever have to go through something like that, because I don't know if I could be as strong as they are.
Kristen Pou:
The Bosnian Genocide is like the other genocides we’ve learned about in the fact that it’s a Genocide and one group of people were targeted by another. Also similar to the other Genocides, the people being attacked were targeted because of a specific cultural difference. In the Bosnian Genocide’s case the cultural difference was religion which was like the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the Cambodian Genocide. The Bosnian Genocide, like a lot of other genocides was carried out with the same methods. Massacres, weapons of war, relocation, and rape were some of the things similar to other genocides that took place during the Bosnian Genocide. Unlike the other genocides we discussed in class, there was more interference from the outside, international world in the Bosnian Genocide; Yet the outside world still didn’t do enough. The UN had troops in Serbia/Bosnia during the time of the the genocide but the troops could only watch over and were not to fight. However, similar to the Cambodian Genocide, the U.S.’s involvement in the genocide helped to end the conflict with a peace agreement. One last similarity was the idea of ethnically cleansing. The idea wasn’t clearly stated in the other genocides as it was in the Bosnian Genocide, it was a big idea in the other genocides we’ve talked about and even most genocides in general. I think the thing that stuck out to me the most in Selena’s survivor story was the sign that Arkan waited for before attacking the Muslim population in Selena’s area. It was sort of creative but blatantly discriminative. It made the Muslim population know that they were the target and any measure would be taken to exterminate them. In the documentary we saw, I think the thing that stuck out to me was that everything or almost everything was documented with pretty modern camcorders. It reminds me that this isn’t ancient history and barbaric acts like these still happen. Another thing was when the women were visiting Srebrenica and were praying and you could hear their crying. I felt my throat choke up. The women didn’t even seem that old.
Berevan Turan :
The Bosnian Genocide has its similarities and differences from all the other genocides we've learned about in class. One similarity is that every single genocide we learned about involved discrimination. In the Holocaust, Hitler and his Nazi party exterminated people who weren't a part of the Aryan race. The Armenian Genocide was when the Turks murdered every single Armenian who didn't follow the religion of Islam and this only applied to the Armenians who lived in Turkey. The Bosnian Genocide was when the Serbs slaughtered the Bosnians for being Muslim. Another reason they are similar is the fact that they are all genocides. The Rwandan Genocide and the Bosnian genocide both involved victims (women) who were raped by the oppressors. Also the Bosnian Genocide, the Armenian Genocide, and the Holocaust all had concentration camps and all moved the victims from their homes to inhumane locations. In the Cambodian Genocide churches and temples were burned which was similar to Bosnian Genocide when the mosques were destroyed. One difference is that in the Bosnian Genocide there was a safe zone for all the victims to stay at meanwhile the other genocides had no type of place to be "safe". Another difference is that the Armenian genocide was caused because of past conflict with Russia. Armenians supporting Russians is what caused the tension to grow between the Turks and the Armenians because the Turks had problems in the past with the Russians. No other genocide was caused because of a past problem with a different country. The thing that stuck out to me the most was that Selena buried her son with her own bare hands after he was killed by the Serbs. This stuck out to me because she was very brave and I would be scared to bury my own son without anyone else knowing. I feel really bad for her because she also lost her husband in this genocide. The way she was crying made me so sad because there's many other people survivors in this genocide that go through the same thing as she does.
Michelle Bravo: Post #2
The Armenian and Cambodian Genocide were similar and different in many ways. Armenia (Ottoman Empire/Turkish Armenia) and Cambodia had both made labor camps were labor was put upon citizens. Destruction of government was heavily influenced in both these Genocides. They were different by Cambodia was trying to become a communist country because of their leader who was influenced by China's government. Communist countries don't believe in religion so most religious societies or groups were killed or banned. In Armenia if you weren't Islam it was an automatic death sentence. If you were Christian you were to convert Islam and if you refused they would kill you. My reactions to the struggles of Camboian citizens is that how easily they could be killed, the slightesous isn't of emotion and it was over. You could be killed for laughing, crying or even wearing glasses (glasses is a sign of intelligence).
Saima Rehnuma: There are many similarities and differences between the Bosnian Genocide and the other genocides. To begin with the Holocaust was based upon a religious hatred towards the Jews and a discrimation and extermination of those that aren't the A ryan race. Similar to that the Bosnian Genocide was held because of the religious hatred by the Serbs towards the Bosnian Muslims. The Serbs were Orhtodox Christians while the majority of Bosnia was muslim. S once Bosnia achieved independence, the President of Bosnia who was a Serbian wanted to ethnically cleanse the country. He believed that Muslims and the Serbs will always stay in unrest if they stayed together, and that's why he stated " Serbs and Muslims are like cats and dogs. They cannot live together in peace". Because of his view against muslims the Serbs began the massacre of killing Bosnian muslims. Similar to the Cambodian Gebnocide the U.S. interfered to end the mass murder. Bill Clinton sent out to troops to create a safe place for the muslims, and created a peace treaty between the muslims and serbs. Along, with the simi;larites present in thise genocide with the others, it contains differences as well. Much of the masssacre added up to very few deaths compared to the Rwandan genocide and the others. A part that stuck out to me from the survivor story, was when a group of women got out of the bus to return to the place where there family died. It really touched me when one of the ladies broke down, after remembering that her child died here. It reminded me of the sacrifices and pain these people wnet through, but not just in this genocide but the others as well. However, I felt relieved knowing that she was alive and did not face the killing of this genocide.
Yennifer Posada
Genocides have occurred for so long. The Rwanda, Cambodia, Armenian, Holocaust and Bosnia genocides all have similarities and differences. All the genocides including the Bosnian genocide are similar because all the innocent civilians died. All the genocides are similar in that they include how there was mass shooting, raping women and girls and ruining everything the enemy could to make the victims suffer. Families were destroyed and separated. Children were left orphans and abandoned because they had no one to take care of them. In the Cambodian genocide the U.S. got involved by sending military troops just like Bill Clinton did for the Bosnian genocide. Bill Clinton was suppose to stop and make these country have peace. In the Bosnian, Armenian and the Rwanda genocide all had to do from one side you were on. In the Rwanda genocide it mattered if you were a Hutu or a Tutsi. In the Bosnia and Armenia genocide religion was the main factor. In the Bosnia genocide the Serbs wanted to convert the Bosnian Muslims to Orthodox Christianity. The Serbs wanted all to be one religion and not be a distant religion. In the Armenian genocide the Turks wanted to turn everyone Muslim but the Armenians were Christian. Since the Armenians didn’t convert they were tortured. However in the Holocaust, Hitler with his Nazi party not only targeted Jews but also targeted Slavs, Gypsies, disabled, political dissents and homosexuals. Hitler was a powerful leader and he tortured Jews in specific because he wanted the white supremacy to be in Germany. Each genocide had many casualties but the one that struck out the most was the one in Rwanda that lasted 100 days and 1.2 million Tutsi people were killed, slaughtered and tortured. These genocides include all selfish and cruel people that do not know how to value humanism and torture people because they don’t like what is happening so torturing for them is an option. What stuck out to me from the survivor story is that she her son had been killed and she had the guts and go bury her son out in the woods where there was no one. As a mother, she is the bravest woman because she lost her husband because the Serbs took him and then she went and buried her son with her own hands. This was extremely brave and courageous of her because she has lived through so much and has the strength to go back into Bosnia (she is living at a different place now) and go through her past. This survivor story touched me the most and therefore gave me goosebumps.
Stephanie Ramirez :D The Bosnian genocide had a lot of similarities and differences from the other genocides that we had learned so far. Some similarities were that they all had a major affect on people, and it affectpet their life's. Also the Armonican, Cambodian, Rwandan, and the holocaust had killing, rape, people got sent to other places, the people had to do what they had been told if not they would die, basically everything led to very bad things. The differences was the leader and how it started and where it took place. The Bosnian genocide started because the Serbs were disagreeing with the idea of the Muslim living in Bosnia. They couldn't live together. According to people they were like "cats and dogs" even though now a days we now that cats and dogs do live together, like for example Jen's cat and dog they are best friend she even has a bird! :D What stuck out to me from the video was how in the beginning the lady buried her son. It was also sad how the father would call his son and tell him it was safe to come out. Having a lot of dead bodies stacked up the the rstub also stuck out to me and how they would try to find out their identity. >:O
POST #5 DARFUR-- From our entire unit of study you have learned that genocide has occurred throughout the world at various times in history. What are some comparisons you can make between the genocide going on in Darfur today and the other genocides we have discussed? Do you have any suggestions about how we can make genocide a "never again" for the future?
Feel free to watch more of the documentary " The Devil came on Horseback" it live streams on Netflix
Tatyana Noori-
The Darfur genocide reminds me a little of the Bosnian genocide. It reminds me of the Bosnian genocide because in the Bosnian genocide the Serbians were killing the Bosnian muslims and in the Darfur genocide muslims are also being targeted. The Darfur genocide is also similar to the Rwandan genocide because of the rapes. The woman in Rwanda had a better chance of living because they would most likely get raped instead of killed. While the men would instantly be killed. In Darfur they send the woman out to collect stuff like wood instead of the men because the woman have a higher chance of living because instead of instant death because they are more susceptible to rape. In all honesty I don't think there is a way we can make genocide a "never again" thing for the future. I don't think it's possible because people put themselves and their country ahead of everything else, and with all the problems we are facing in the world, focusing on another country and their problems isn't something that is likely to happen. The idea of not having genocide occur sounds amazing, but it's more of a Utopian idea then reality.
Ameera Khan:D
One big comparison that I can make between all the genocides that we have learned about so far is that all these genocides have dealt with land and invasions. The oppressors that would take invade the land and hurt the victims would forcefully take their land/belongings/family and torture them since then. These conflicts would all start because of how the people living in this land would have skin/religion differences. Usually if people live in one country, they stay as a team and fight for each other. These genocides are so sad because instead of fighting for each other, the people living in their country are fighting with each other. The Rwandan genocide, the killers would randomly attack, rape, kidnap and torture you. In the Darfur genocide, the killers did the same and made them suffer by not even giving them a roof to live under. Another thing that most of these genocides have a similarity with is that they didn't receive enough help for their lives to become better. In Darfur, the United States has/does a lot as possible to make their lives better and happy. But they need way more than that. Someone needs to look at the women who are so scared to even go out in the lands of Darfur to get food for their family. Someone needs to clear the land up by removing the rapists and kidnappers that hurt the women. To prevent these genocides from never happen is to separate the people by dividing the land. There is a possibility that this can become less of a chaos. But we all just have to hope that no one messes it up and makes reality better than dreams and hopes!Gisselle Flores
The genocide that is going on today is similar to the ones that have passed in the past because they all have innocent people who died. Most of the genocides we learned about started because of religious conflicts. They also started mostly because of racism. The Ottoman Empire didn't like the Armenians because they were Catholic and the Ottoman Empire were Muslim. What's strange about this is that the Armenians were a part of Turkey and Ottoman Empire was Turkish as well so they basically betrayed their own kind. The Darfur genocide reminds me of the Armenian genocide because they as well betray their own kind. The Arabs are killing the Muslims. The Arabs are white and the Muslims are dark skinned which is another reason why there killing each other. For the future, genocides don't have to exist if there is no more racism. But with all the hate that is going on in the world this won't happen. In order for this to happen everyone has to be treated equally.
Saima Rehnuma
There have been many genocides that occurred at various times in history. They all have similarities and differences, and like any other the Darfur Genocide has too. The Darfur Genocide was a mass murder against darker skinned muslims and christians, by the lighter skinned muslims who are the Arabs. This genocide began when the darker skinned muslims attacked the government because they felt they received unfair treatment. The government in return sent an Arab milita, named the Janjaweed to kill those that attacked the governemnt but it reached to such extremes that the Janjaweed began murdering all the darker skinned Muslims and Christians. The Sudanese government in this case did not interfere in stopping this genocide, yet explains to other world power that they do not agree to this murder,but it is not in their hands to stop this.This genocide is similar to the Armenian Genocide because the people of Darfur are targeting their own people, based on skin color. Similarly, the Armenian Genocide began with the killing of the Armenians, however different they were, they were part of Turkey. Not only is the Darfur genocide similar ot the Armenian but the Bosnian Genocide as well, because in obth cases the Muslims were being targeted. Along with that, the Darfur genocide used rape as a tactic to destroy familes similar to the Rwandan genocide. Most of the women were raped as a way for revenge, violence, or the breaking up of familes. All these genocides seem horrifying to everyone and we all want to end it; however it can only end when we view each other all equally. This may be difficult because in every society and community we have levels and classification for each other, and the same goes with race and religion. But it can work if we all try to treat each other equally and view each other as god's children! Like Martin Luther King Jr. said "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal".
Mayar Mansy: Many Genocides had been going on at different times in history. The Darfur genocide is similar to some of the other genocides that occurred. The Big difference that the Darfur genocide has with the other genocides that we learned about is that it's still going on/happening today. It started because the darker skinned Muslims in Darfur felt like that the government treated the lighter skinned Muslims better. The darker skinned Muslims attacked the government due to that mistreatment. The government replied by sending a militia called the Janjaweed to kill the people who attacked them. This is similar to the Armenian genocide because they were also killing their own people. Even though in Darfur, Most of them had the same religion but they still fought. Another similarity that the Darfur genocide had with other genocides is that most of them suffered from thirst and hunger. Also, women/females were treated badly and got rapped just like the Rwandan genocide. All of these genocides need to end because innocent people are dying and getting horrible treatment. This can be solved if people stop being racist and mean, they should have some feelings because we're all human beings. we all have something in common somehow and we all should be treated equally/ the same (-:
Alisa Metovic: Many genocides can be compared to one another simply because they are genocides. To be considered a genocide, the event must involve the extermination of a national, racial, political or ethnic group of people. In Darfur, citizens are targeted by the Sudanese Janjiweed. Similar to the Rwandan genocide, the genocide in Darfur involves rape and torture. In Darfur, the government wants control of the regions farmland, this is alike to the Serbian government wanting control of Bosnia under Yugoslavia in the Bosnian genocide. Similar to both the Bosnian genocide and the Holocaust, the genocide in Darfur involves the oppression of a Religious group (the Muslims). When it comes to putting an end to genocides in general, I highly doubt that it's possible. From the beginning of time, different groups of people haven't gotten along, and people have oppressed others. This is a humane way of life that isn't easy to put a stop to. What I do think can improve, is the will of others to recognize and help those who are being attacked in a genocidal way.
Yennifer Posada
Genocides sadly occur but they shouldn’t even exist. The Darfur genocide is extremely disappointing. This genocide is about two things. The first one is that the government wanted to control all the farmland in Darfur to know what there was. The second thing is that the lighter skinned Muslims were targeting the darker skinned Muslims and some Christians. This is ridiculous because the Darfur people are attacking their same race only because the others have darker skin than the lighter skinned people. Just because your skin is another color it shouldn’t have been turned into a genocide that killed many innocent citizens. John Locke, one of the Enlightenment thinkers would be upset at what is happening in the world. If John Locke would were here today, he would have rebelled against the lighter skinned Muslims because of the way that there are no equal rights among these Darfur citizens. John would urge for natural rights to take place and would make sure each Muslim and Christian citizen have the rights they deserve just because they are human. This genocide compares to the other genocide that have happened in history. The Rwanda genocide is similar because the Tutsi and Hutu people are both from Rwanda but they both attack each other because of the group that they belong too. This is hectic because instead of working together they are attacking each other and destroying land and valuable irreplaceable things that later will cost them a lot. There is similar tactic that the Armenian, Cambodia, the Holocaust, Rwanda and Darfur used is that they all treated women horribly. The women are taken advantage of and are used as a toy by raping them and destroying their body and moral inside of them. Chief Joseph said, “The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.” This quote resembles how even though you were born on this planet you deserve rights no matter what and John Locke would definitely agree with him. In order for there to be a “never again genocide” there needs to be peace within the same culture no matter what religion or what how light or dark your skin is. There needs to be respect for everyone no matter if you are a higher or lower class. Instead of fighting and turning the problem into a genocide, people before they start fighting should talk things out and set an agreement so innocent lives aren’t sacrificed. If every country was satisfied with what they had and no one would start shooting at each other there would never be a genocide ever again.
Kristen Pou: I think one big similarity between the genocide in Darfur and the genocides we previously learned about in class is that religion played a huge part in most of them. In the Holocaust, the Armenian and Cambodian genocides, and the Bosnian Genocide people were targeted because of their religion. Likewise, in Darfur people were targeted because of their religion and appearance. The darker skinned Muslims were targeted by the lighter skinned Muslims who were arguably their own kind. I don’t think I can say I have any ideas to make Genocide a “Never Again” That thing kind of seems impossible. We have the UN for conflicts to be talked out and peace keeping troops but it doesn’t ever seem to be enough. People first have to realize that while no one is exactly the same, we are the same. We are all humans who hopefully want to live their life on their own path. Sometimes those paths cross and collide. But we can’t focus on hate that we hold for someone who is slightly different than us. I think as soon as people learn to put differences aside and respect and tolerate everyone then we can begin to think of ways to really diminish genocide possibly forever.
Berevan Turan:
The genocide that is happening right now in Darfur is similar from the other genocides we learned about but it is also different. The Darfur genocide is systematic just like the Holocaust, Armenian, Cambodian, Rwandan, and Bosnian genocides. In the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides, the victims moved to refugee camps because they were fleeing from their homes just like the Darfur people did in their genocide. Just like the Darfur genocide, the Rwandan genocide started because of one group that felt that they got less attention than the other group. In the Rwandan genocide, the Hutus started a genocide because they felt like the Tutsis were being treated better by the Belgians and in the Darfur Genocide the light skinned Muslims started a genocide because they felt like the dark skinned Muslims and Christians were getting more attention from the government. The genocides are also similiar to the Darfur genocide because in all the other genocides, except the Holocaust and Cambodian genocide, women were raped and being mistreated. The Darfur genocide had military groups that attacked their victims. The Cambodian genocide had the Khmer Rouge as a military group, the Holocaust had the Nazis, the Interhamwe was considered the "bad" military group and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) was the "good" military group in the Rwandan genocide and the Darfur genocide had the Janjaweed as a military group. The fact that the Darfur genocide started in 2003 to present day is a difference because it was the only genocide that lasted the longest and that is still going on today. I believe one way to stop genocides is to not judge people and to not say rude comments towards a specific group. I also think that you shouldn't treat one group better than the other because everyone deserves to be treated equally especially because we're all human beings.
Rwan Elsanhoury:The genocide in Darfur has a lot of similarities with other past genocides. This genocide is a lot like the Rwandan genocide. In Darfur the lighter skinned Muslims were treated much better than the darker skinned Muslims. The darker skinned Sudanese was furious so they decided to attack the government, which then led to the government target the darker skinned. In Rwanda the Belgiums favored the Tutsis which aggravated the Hutus. Later on the Hutus took over and targeted the Tutsi because they were favored by the Belgiums. Also in the Armenian, Holocaust, Bosnian, and Cambodian genocides a specific religion was targeted. One way to prevent genocides clearly is to not favor any specific group of people; everyone should just be treated equally (which is nearly impossible in this world). If you hate a specific group of people or prefer another group of people try really hard to treat them the same. As adults tell young ones to keep their comments to themselves, governments should try doing that more often. If everyone was equal that there would not be a need for a genocide. Genocides are just a mass killing of a specific group of people because of what they are or believe in. So the only way to prevent it from happening is making everyone love and accept each other which is massively impossible.
Mehak Mahmood: Genocide in Darfur is still occuring even through this day. There are some comparisons in which the other genocides have between themselves. All the genocides that had ever occurred never ended purely because one side always had problems with the other side. Another comparison is that the Bosnian, Armenian, Cambodian, Rwanda, and the Darfur all hadreligious/racial conflicts.For example the Armenian genocide was when the Ottoman betrayed there own kind the only difference was that they both had different religions just like Darfur who betrayed there own kind and attacked because they had different skin tones. Within all the genocides not even one ended purely. All the genocides that had occurred caused many deaths and damages. If we don't want any of these genocides to occur again people have to take action and motivate eachother to stop this drama. We as a strong nation should give speeches,donate food, and try to put a stop if we can and as well show people how and what the survivors went through.
Nadia Espinoza: The genocides that we have learned about all are similar in the way that they started because of religious conflicts. The Armenians were Christians and the Turks were Muslim. The Turks killed the Armenians because they were not Christians. Bosnia declared its independence and its targets were Bosnian Muslims. In Darfur the Arab Militia or known as the Janjaweed, are the ones who are caring out the genocide they are supported by the Sudanese government. The real problem was skin color the dark color and the light colored people. But really having a “never again” is really hard and we have the United Nations to be discussing these problems, they could agree on agreements but one can never be satisfied because one always wants more. This was similar to Hitler when he was given Czechoslovakia he still took over other countries because what they really did was spoon feed Hitler and at the end he still wanted more.
Jessica Toro
All of the genocides that we learned in class happen different times but have a lot in common. The Darfur genocide is still going on I thought we were not going to let happen ever again. The Darfur genocide reminds me of the Armenian genocide because they both are attacking their own race. The darker skinned Muslims attacked the government and the government sent a group called Jajaweed to attack them back. The light skin believed that the darker skin Muslims and Christians were getting more attention. What bothers me a lot of the genocide women were being raped and used as a tool to ruin their lives. I believe in order to stop a genocide you need to separate the two groups that aren’t getting along and keep them away from each other so they don’t attack.